"I go to poetry to experience more of the world."
Thomas Devaney (b. 1969) considers poetry an act of exploration. His work is a lyric evocation of, and meditation upon, remembered people, places, his native city of Philadelphia, and the passage of time. A former musician, he writes for the ear as well as the eye. "I am a poet today because of music," Devaney says. He also collaborates with visual artists: "Poems that engage the visual and the musical show us how words—at their most dynamic—can help us see, feel, connect, question, and dream." Devaney received his M.F.A. in creative writing at Brooklyn College, CUNY in 1998, and he is a visiting assistant professor at Haverford College. He has published one nonfiction book, Letters to Ernesto Neto (Germ Folio, 2004), and four poetry collections, including The Picture That Remains (The Print Center, 2014, in collaboration with photographer Will Brown), and the recently released Calamity Jane (Furniture Press, 2014).
