FIELDS: Creative Writing (poetry); Afro-American Writing; African Writing; Caribbean Writing; Chicano/Latino Writing

SPECIAL INTERESTS: When Professor Primus St. John joined the faculty in 1973 he already enjoyed a national reputation as a fine poet. Since then he has published several collections of his poems, edited two anthologies, helped create the NEA-funded Poets in the Schools Program, won the Western States Book Award for Poetry (2000), and the Oregon Book Award for Poetry (1990). In 2000 he was a finalist for poetry for both the Oregon Book Award and the PEN West Award. Professor St. John has participated in countless readings and taught hundreds of students to write creatively and think critically. Currently he is completing a collection of new poems based on historical and Caribbean themes where he continues his examination of people, their circumstances, and how they deal with those circumstances.

His collections of poetry include Communion: Poems, 1976-1998 (Copper Canyon Press, 1999); Dreamer (1990); Love is Not a Consolation: It is a Light (1982); and Skin on the Earth (1976). He is also the editor of the anthologies From Here We Speak (1993) and Zero Makes Me Hungry (1976). His work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies.