Richard Shelton

Richard Shelton is a writer, poet, and emeritus Regents Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Arizona. He has published 11 books of poetry and is former director of the University of Arizona Poetry Center. In 1974, he established a writers workshop in the Arizona State Prison at Florence. That program, over the years, has expanded into many prison workshops, four of which are currently operating with the support of the Lannan Foundation. He wrote Crossing the Yard: Thirty Years as a Prison Volunteer about the experience. Dozens of books by graduates of this program have been published. In 2006, he received the University of Arizona’s Henry and Phyllis Koffler Prize for outstanding accomplishment in teaching and, with his wife Lois, the Arizona Book Festival’s inaugural Arizona Literary Treasure Award. He has also been nominated for a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize.

Read more about Richard and his work at https://www.richardwshelton.com/.