Bruce Guernsey is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Eastern Illinois University where he taught creative writing and American Literature for twenty-five years. He has also taught at William and Mary, Johns Hopkins, the University of New Hampshire, and Virginia Wesleyan College where he was the poet in residence for four years. A graduate with honors from Colgate University, he holds M.A.'s from the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins and a PhD from New Hampshire, writing his dissertation on tools as metaphor in Robert Frost's poetry.

           Bruce's poems have appeared in well-known publications such as "Poetry," "The Atlantic," "American Scholar," and many of the quarterlies. His work has also appeared in more diverse places like "Cat Fancy," "The Journal of Medical Opinion," and "Yankee." His books of poetry include Lost Wealth (Basilisk Press, 1974), January Thaw (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1982), The Lost Brigade (Water Press and Media, 2004), and New England Primer (Cherry Grove Collections, 2008). He has also published seven chapbooks. He has been honored with fellowships in writing from the NEA, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference. Three of his poems have been featured in Ted Kooser's national column, "American Life in Poetry." In 2007 Bruce took over the editorship of The Spoon River Poetry Review. The magazine has received an Illinois Arts Council Literary Award in both 2008 and 2009.

           His prose has also found publication in a variety of magazines, including "War, Literature, and the Arts," "The Virginia Quarterly Review," and "Fly Rod & Reel." His essay, "The Raven's Gift," won the creative nonfiction award from the journal, "Flyway." The recipient of Fulbright Lectureships to Portugal and Greece, Bruce has twice sailed around the world with Semester at Sea.

           For his teaching, Dr. G. was awarded seven faculty excellence awards while at EIU, and in 1992 was awarded the State of Illinois Board of Governors' Distinguished Professor Award, the highest honor offered in that state system. He was also twice nominated for the Carnegie Institute United States Professor of the Year.

           He and his wife, the artist and jeweler Victoria Woollen-Danner, divide their time between Charleston, Illinois and their new home in Bethel, Maine. Together, they have five children and two granddaughters, plus a Gordon setter named Yaz and a big-fat cat known as Boggs. All in the family are long-suffering Boston Red Sox fans.

The author and his wife, Victoria Woollen-Danner