James Armstrong is the author of two poetry books, Monument in a Summer Hat (New Issues Press 1999) and Blue Lash (Milkweed Editions 2006), and is the co-author of a book of essays, Nature, Culture and Two Friends Talking (North Star Press 2015). He is currently at work on a critical study of the poet William Stafford.  Armstrong is a recipient of the PEN-New England Discovery Prize, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in poetry.  He is a Professor of English at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota. He posts essays and drawings at https://thinearth.blog.