David M. Parsons
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David M. Parsons | |
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| Born | Villa Rica, Georgia |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation(s) | Author and Educator |
| Known for | Poet Laureate of Texas, 2011-2012 |
| Notable work | Feathering Deep, Reaching for Longer Water
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David Mercier Parsons was born in Villa Rica, Georgia, and is an American author, poet, and educator. Raised in Austin, Texas, he was named by the Texas State Legislature in 2011 to a two-year term as Poet Laureate of Texas[1], commemorated by the publication of David M. Parsons New & Selected Poems by the Texas Christian University Press. His most recent book is the poetry collection Reaching for Longer Water. Parsons holds a BBA from Texas State University and a MA from the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program where he studied poetry and literature with Edward Hirsch, Stanley Plumly, Richard Howard, Robert Pinsky and Howard Moss.
Parsons is a professor at Lone Star College-Montgomery where he teaches English and Creative Writing. He is a founder and program director of Writers in Performance[2], a monthly reading series in partnership with the non-profit Montgomery County Literary Arts Council which he founded and co-directs. [3] The Commissioners Court of Montgomery County, Texas, named him County Poet Laureate in 2005 for a five-year term.[4] In 2013, the city of Conroe, Texas, recognized Parsons with a bronze bust in the town’s Founder’s Plaza.[5] In 2019, his poem, “The Texian,” was installed in bronze at Lone Star Monument & Historical Flag Park in Conroe, Texas.[6]
Parsons was elected to membership in the Texas Institute of Letters in 2009.[7]
Poet Ange Mlinko writes of Parsons and his work, “It is deeply informed by English and American literature. There is no artificial barrier between art and life, love and intellect. The Renaissance man was once a courtly ideal; Parsons shows that it is a democratic ideal too—warm-blooded, muscular, as companionable on the page as in the flesh.”[8]
Works
- Editing Sky, (Texas Review Press, 1999. ISBN 978-1881515234)
- Color of Mourning, (Texas Review Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1933896021)
- Feathering Deep, (Texas Review Press, 2012 ISBN 978-1933896809)
- David M. Parsons New & Selected Poems, (Texas Christian University Press, 2012. ISBN 978-0875653952)
- Reaching for Longer Water, (Texas Review Press, 2015. ISBN 978-1680030327)
- Far Out: Poems of the 60’s, (co-edited with Wendy Barker), (Wings Press, 2016. ISBN 978-1609405014)
References
- ^ "The Three Beginnings of a Texas Poet Laureate |". Arts and Culture Texas. 2012-06-28. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Writers in Performance". www.lonestar.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
- ^ "Montgomery County Literary Arts Council". Montgomery County Literary Arts Council. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Montgomery, Robin (2020-04-03). "Poet laureate Parsons Conroe's Renaissance man". The Courier. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Conroe Founders Plaza - Conroe, TX - Municipal Parks and Plazas on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
- ^ Dominguez, Catherine (2018-02-24). "Poem 'The Texian' to be displayed at historical flag park in Conroe". The Courier. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
- ^ "Texas Institute of Letters: Active Members". www.texasinstituteofletters.org. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
- ^ Parsons, David (2012). David M. Parsons New & Selected Poems. Texas Christian University Press. pp. Back cover. ISBN 978-0875653952.