Thomas Centolella is the author of four books of poetry: Terra Firma (Copper Canyon Press), selected by Denise Levertov for the National Poetry Series and winner of the American Book Award; Lights & Mysteries (Copper Canyon Press), winner of the California Book Award from the Commonwealth Club; Views from along the Middle Way (Copper Canyon Press); and Almost Human (Tupelo Press), winner of the Dorset Prize, selected by Edward Hirsch.
Mr. Centolella was given a Lannan Literary Award in Poetry in 1992 and a Lannan Residency in 2000. A former Stegner Fellow at Stanford University, he has taught creative writing and literature for many years in the San Francisco Bay Area: at the college level; for the Institute on Aging, where he worked with the Alzheimer’s and dementia population; in the California Poets in the Schools Program, K-12; for WritersCorps, where he worked with at-risk teens; and in numerous private workshops. Currently, he is finishing his fifth collection of poems, and writing songs and instrumental music.