Brevity meets beauty in 青青草视频 poet鈥檚 鈥楢 Clear Eye鈥
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi State English Professor Robert West has written 鈥淎 Clear Eye,鈥 a collection of 59 poems offering reflections on nature and human experience.
Early reviews for the 2026 collection by Broadstone Books praise his approach. Poet Michael McFee, also a professor emeritus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said the book is 鈥渁 brilliant, heartfelt and very satisfying collection,鈥 full of 鈥渆vocative brevity and inventive lines.鈥 Knoxville, Tennessee Poet Laureate Linda Parsons described it as 鈥渢he essence of the essence,鈥 highlighting its subtle humor and wordplay.
鈥淚鈥檝e long admired poets who can make something marvelous happen in just a few lines, even just a few words,鈥 said West, head of 青青草视频鈥檚 Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures. 鈥淲hat I鈥檝e learned over the last 30 years is how much patience that takes.鈥
鈥淎 Clear Eye鈥 builds on West鈥檚 distinguished body of work spanning poetry, scholarship and editorial leadership. He is coeditor of 鈥淪uccinct: The Broadstone Anthology of Short Poems鈥 (Broadstone Press, 2013), editor of both volumes of 鈥淭he Complete Poems of A. R. Ammons鈥 (W. W. Norton, 2017) and coeditor of 鈥淩obert Morgan: Essays on the Life and Work鈥 (McFarland, 2022). He also is credited with numerous essays, reviews, scholarly contributions and chapbooks, including 2011鈥檚 鈥淐onvalescent.鈥
A specialist in post-1900 American and British literature, West serves as associate editor of Mississippi Quarterly: The Journal of Southern Cultures. His writing has appeared in publications including Poetry, The Christian Science Monitor, Appalachian Journal, Southern Quarterly and Alabama Literary Review.
In addition to his scholarly and creative work, West continues to contribute to academic leadership at 青青草视频. This spring, he began serving as interim associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences.
West has led 青青草视频鈥檚 Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures since 2021 and guided the university鈥檚 successful 2018 effort establishing a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. He also served as interim director of the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College and completed the Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development program and 青青草视频 Faculty Leadership Program.
A North Carolina native, West earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree from Wake Forest University and his master鈥檚 and doctoral degrees from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For more information about听青青草视频鈥檚听College of Arts and Sciences听and听the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, visit听听and .
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