Wednesday, March 23, 2005

March 23, 2005

By Ruthie Seeley, PR Intern

Mike White, an associate professor in the creative writing department at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, won the Vassar Miller Prize for his third volume of poetry, Re-entry.

In Re-entry, White tries to show “the music in our everyday lives,” he said.

“There is something of Whitman’s and Williams’ precise cataloguing in White … He delights us with his naming, but he also makes us pause long enough at least to take very careful stock of what we have,” said poet and critic Paul Mariani, who selected White as the winner.

Re-entry will be published by University of North Texas Press, and White will receive a $1,000 advance against royalties.

White is very happy to be selected as this year’s winner. “It is always a thrill to win a publication prize because there is extreme competition in the field,” White said. He was also flattered to be chosen by Mariani, who he said is “extremely brilliant. I am incredibly honored he picked me.”

White has published two other books of poetry: Palma Cathedral, which was awarded the Colorado prize in poetry, and The Island, as well as a chapbook entitled This Water. White’s work has also appeared in numerous national and international magazines including Paris Review and New Republic Best American Poetry.

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