Christopher Howell chapbook collection, 1967-2017

Christopher Howell is an American poet, editor, and educator from Portland who influenced many creative writers across the Pacific Northwest. Born August 29, 1945, he was a Navy journalist during the Vietnam War before earning an English degree from Pacific Lutheran University, a Bachelor’s in English Education from Oregon State University, and Master’s degrees in English from Portland State University and University of Massachusetts Amherst. He taught writing and literature in a variety of institutions, including many of the ones he studied at, as well as Colorado State University (poet-in-residence), Willamette University (visiting assistant professor), Pittsburg State University (visiting assistant professor), Whitman College (poet-in-residence), and Emporia State University (director) before working at Eastern Washington University (professor). He has written and published a variety of poems, essays, and translations that won a number of awards, including the Vi Gale Award, the Vachel Lindsay Award, and the Helen Bullis Prize. Some of his notable poetry books include Love’s Last Number (2017), The Grief of a Happy Life (2019), and Gaze (2012). His work has appeared in many journals as well, including the Antioch Review, the Colorado Review, the Northwest Review, the Hudson Review, and Ironwood, the last of which includes some of his translations of Chinese poems. In 1972, Howell served as director and editor at Lynx House Press, which moved to Spokane, Washington in 1996 and became associated with Eastern Washington University in 2005, where Howell worked as a professor in the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing from 1996-2021. There he taught many students who went on to become prolific writers as well, known in his teaching career to be artistically resonant with a wide range of topics, as well as being stylistically elegant, thoughtful, and surreal in his own work. He was also an editor for Willow Springs Magazine and a director for Eastern Washington University Press. Throughout his career, he collected many books and chapbooks of poetry, including those written by his former students, showcasing his impact on the literary world. Howell lives in Spokane with his wife, Barbara, and his son, Evan. He had a daughter, Emma, who was an aspiring poet that died at age 20 in 2001. He helped in compiling and publishing her work after her death as Slim Night of Recognition (2007).