George Bilgere

George Bilgere’s poetry collections are Imperial (2014, University of Pittsburgh Press); The White Museum, selected by Alicia Ostriker for the 2010 Autumn House Poetry Series; Haywire, winner of the May Swenson Poetry Award; The Good Kiss, chosen by U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins for the University of Akron Poetry Prize; Big Bang; and The Going, which received the Devins Award from the University of Missouri Press. About Imperial, Dorianne Laux wrote, “Concerned with life’s smallest and largest questions, Imperial scans the past for clues of how best to navigate the future. Tracing the arc of the Baby Boomer generation from cradle to grave, Bilgere’s poems paint a picture of American life that is equal parts sadness, matter-of-fact-ness, and hilarity. Their ability to incorporate humor is both surprising and fresh—especially as they tackle subjects such as aging, suburban routine, and the rise and subsequent fall of post-WWII America.”

Bilgere has received awards and fellowships from the Pushcart Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fulbright Foundation, the Society of Midland Authors, the Ohio Arts Council, the Ohioana Poetry Foundation, the Witter Bynner Foundation, and the Cleveland Arts Prize. His poems and essays have appeared in Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review, Poetry, Southern Review, Ploughshares, New England Review, River Styx, New Ohio Review, Field, Shenandoah, Sewanee Review, and many other journals and anthologies.

Bilgere’s poems are often heard on Garrison Keillor’s National Public Radio program, The Writer’s Almanac and he has been a featured guest on A Prairie Home Companion.