Wyn Cooper
Encyclopedia
Background
Cooper was raised in MichiganMichigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
and later attended the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
and Hollins College.
He has taught at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
, Marlboro College
Marlboro College
Marlboro College is a small, coeducational, alternative liberal-arts college in Marlboro, Vermont, USA.-History:Marlboro College was founded in 1946 by Walter Hendricks for returning World War II veterans on Potash Hill in Marlboro, Vermont. The school's operation was initially financed using money...
, and at The Frost Place
The Frost Place
The Frost Place is a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home in Franconia, New Hampshire, USA....
Festival of Poetry. His most recent book is Chaos is the New Calm (BOA Editions, 2010. His earlier books are Postcards from the Interior (BOA Editions, 2005), The Way Back (White Pine Press, 2000), and The Country of Here Below (Ahsahta Press, 1987).
Cooper's poems, stories, essays, and reviews have appeared in Poetry, Orion, AGNI, Crazyhorse, Ploughshares. His and are included in 25 anthologies of contemporary poetry. One of his poems, Fun, was used for the lyrics of the Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
song, 'All I Wanna Do
All I Wanna Do (Sheryl Crow song)
English singer/songwriter Amy Studt released a cover version of the song as her fourth single. Amy was asked personally by Sheryl Crow to record a cover of the song....
'. Crow's producer Bill Bottrell
Bill Bottrell
Bill Bottrell is an American record producer, songwriter and musician, probably best known for his Grammy Award-winning collaborations with Michael Jackson, E.L.O. and Sheryl Crow.- Biography :...
discovered Cooper's poetry book The Country of Here Below in Cliff's Books, a Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
used bookstore. Bottrell adapted Fun into the lyrics for her song when Crow couldn't come up with usable lyrics—earning Cooper considerable royalties, and helping to publicise his book, originally published in a run of only 500 copies in 1987, into multiple reprints. He also wrote lyrics for a fictional band in the novel, Anything Goes by Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell
Madison Smartt Bell is an American novelist. He was raised Nashville, and lived in New York, and London before settling in Baltimore, Maryland....
. The songs were put to music by Bell, recorded and produced by Don Dixon and released as 40 Words for Fear in 2003. The song was used as the closing music for The Shield
The Shield
The Shield is an American television drama series starring Michael Chiklis which premiered on March 12, 2002 on FX in the United States and concluded on November 25, 2008 after seven seasons...
, season five, episode six.
Cooper has served as editor of Quarterly West and most recently worked for the Harriet Monroe Poetry Institute, a think tank run by the Poetry Foundation of Chicago. Cooper is one of the organizers of the Brattleboro Literary Festival in Brattleboro, Vermont. He currently resides in Halifax
Halifax, Vermont
Halifax is a town in Windham County, Vermont, in the United States. The town was named for the Earl of Halifax. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 782.-Geography:...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
.
Works
- The Country of Here Below (Ahsahta Press, 1987)
- The Way Back (White Pine Press, 2000)
- Postcards from the Interior, (BOA Editions, Ltd.BOA Editions, Ltd.BOA Editions, Ltd. is an American independent, non-profit literary publishing company located in Rochester, New York, founded in 1976 by the late poet, editor and translator, A...
, 2005) - Chaos is the New Calm (BOA Editions, 2010)