Bio:

Coleman Barks taught American Literature and Creative Writing at various universities for thirty-four years. He is the author of eight volumes of his own poetry, including Winter Sky: Poems 1968-2008 (2008) and Hummingbird Sleep (2012). Since 1977, Barks has collaborated with various scholars of the Persian language to render into American free verse the poetry of the thirteenth-century mystic, Jelaluddin Rumi. This work has resulted in twenty-one volumes, including the best-selling Essential Rumi (1995), two appearances on Bill Moyers’ PBS specials, and inclusion in the prestigious Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. The Rumi translations have sold over a million and a half copies. In 2010, HarperOne published Rumi: The Big Red Book, collecting all the work Barks has done on Rumi’s ghazals and rubai. In May of 2006 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Tehran, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame. He is now retired Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Georgia in Athens. He has two grown sons and five grandchildren, all of whom live near him in Athens, Georgia. Visit his website at http://colemanbarks.com.

Issue 1:

• The Innards