photo: David Carlson

Ruth Stone was born on June 8, 1915, in Roanoke, Virginia. Her recent books of poetry include In the Next Galaxy (Copper Canyon 2002), Ordinary Words (Paris Press, 1999), Simplicity (Paris Press, 1997), Who is the Widow's Muse (1991), Second Hand Coat (1987), Cheap (1975), Topography (1971), and In an Iridescent Time (1959). She has published poems in numerous anthologies and literary journals. Stone is the recipient of the 2002 Wallace Stevens Award. Among her other awards are two Guggenheim Fellowships, The Bess Hokin Award from Poetry magazine, the Shelley Memorial Award, the Vermont Cerf Award for lifetime achievement in the arts, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award. For the last fifteen years Stone has been a professor at Binghamton University. She has been a resident of Vermont since 1957.