Mischa Willett

Mischa Willett is an American poet^[1] and essayist best known for his work in the poetic elegy^[2] and for his academic championship of the Spasmodic poets.^[3][4]

Mischa Willett
Born	Michael David Willett 1978 (age 46–47)
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Wheaton College
Occupation	Author
Website	www.mischawillett.com

Biography

Willett was born in Phoenix, Arizona, to a family associated with People's Church,^[5] an offshoot of the Jesus movement. His childhood was spent moving around the west coast^[5] before he attended Wheaton College (Illinois), where he studied under evangelical writers such as Leland Ryken and Alan Jacobs (academic).^[6] There he attended his first poetry readings by poets such as Li-Young Lee, Dana Gioia, and Jeanne Murray Walker.^[6]

After college, Willett moved to Flagstaff where he lived as a church sexton (office) while completing a Master of Arts degree from Northern Arizona University.^[6]

He moved back to the Pacific Northwest to complete an Master of Fine Arts degree at University of Washington under the direction of Richard Kenney (poet) and Linda Bierds.^[6] There, under the auspices of study abroad programs, he first began taking the trips to Rome that would become a recurrent feature in his poetry.^[7]

Willett stayed at University of Washington for a Ph.D. focusing on Romanticism, during which time he first began to appreciate the Spasmodic poets.^[6] While writing his dissertation, he spent a year as scholar-in-residence at University of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, where he gave a public poetry reading in the Hölderlinturm.^[6] There, he began work on the impressions of Rainer Maria Rilke that would form his second book, The Elegy Beta.^[8]

Willett is married to the choreographer Amber Willett.^[9][10] They have two children.

Currently, Willett teaches on the English faculty at Seattle Pacific University.^[11][12]

Academic career

Willett's published research^[3] focuses mainly on British Romantic poets such as Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Spasmodic poets such as Alexander Smith, and Philip James Bailey.

Published works

Poetry

Phases is a book of largely religious^[13] poems that are often ironic or humorous.^[14] It was listed among the "Best Books 2017" by the Washington Independent Review of Books.^[15] The poems have been compared stylistically to the poems of Richard Wilbur and noted for their interest in Italian culture and classical civilizations.^[16]

Willett's second book, The Elegy Beta is an extended meditation on angels as represented in The Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke.^[17] It was the first poetry book published by Mockingbird Press^[18] and was included among the ten best poetry books of 2020 by Relief Journal.^[19] The book has been stylistically and thematically compared to the Metaphysical poets especially John Donne, and to John Berryman.^[8]

Essays

As an essayist, Willett writes on culture and religion in venues such as The Gospel Coalition, Mere Orthodoxy, Cardus, The Curator, Front Porch Republic, and First Things.

Bibliography

• Willett, Mischa. Phases. Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2017. Print. ISBN 978-1733716659
• Willett, Mischa. The Elegy Beta: and Other Poems. Charlottesville, VA: Mockingbird Ministries, 2020. Print. ISBN 978-1532610356
• Bailey, Philip James. Festus: An Epic Poem, edited by Mischa Willett, Edinburgh UP, 2021. Print. ISBN 978-1474457811