Peter Sears (poet)

Peter H. Sears (May 18, 1937 – July 20, 2017)^[1][2] was an American poet based in Oregon. In 2014, he was named the seventh poet laureate of the U.S. state of Oregon.^[3]

Peter Sears
Born	May 18, 1937 (1937-05-18) New York City
Died	July 20, 2017(2017-07-20) (aged 80)
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Yale University

Literary career

Sears was born in New York City on May 18, 1937.^[1] He graduated from Yale University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.^[3] He won the 1999 Peregrine Smith Poetry Competition and the 2000 Western States Poetry Prize for his book of poems, The Brink.^[4] His first book-length collection, Tour, was published in 1987. He has also published four chapbooks of poetry and two teaching books, Secret Writing and Gonna Bake Me a Rainbow Poem. His work has been published in many magazines and literary journals, widely anthologized and included in the radio series, The Writer's Almanac. His most recent full-length book is titled Green Diver.^[3]

Sears founded and managed the Oregon Literary Coalition^[5] and co-founded the non-profit organization Friends of William Stafford.

Sears moved to Oregon in 1974 to teach creative writing at Reed College,^[6] he also taught at the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College and Portland Community College. He was active in the publishing company Rubberstampmadness Inc. in Corvallis and Community of Writers in Portland.