Biography:

Geoffrey Brock was born into a family of poets in Atlanta, Georgia. Although at first he planned to study computer science, he became engaged in poetry after experiencing the Italian language and arts during a semester-abroad in Florence (1984). In learning to master Italian, as well as beginning to translate Italian poetry, Brock developed his understanding of form and rhyme.

Brock describes translation as a “wonderful apprentice activity for poets”(Stallings), as he enjoys the challenge of bringing metrical and rhymed pieces from one language to another. He learned to appreciate both form and content, while creatively exploring the use slant rhymes. This mastery in both strict iambic meters as well as free verse is revealed in the form-diverse poems of his first book, Weighing Light. In responding to comments about variety of form in his work, Brock noted, “it seems to me that many contemporary poets try their best to make all their poems sound the same, as if a poet’s highest achievement were the carving out of a recognizable voice…rather than, say, the writing of outstanding poems.” (Stallings)

After translating Cesare Pavese's poetry into Disaffections: Complete Poems 1930-1950, Brock was awarded the Raiziss/de Palchi Translation Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets. He also received the MLA’s Lois Roth Translation Award, the PEN Center USA award, and the Guggenheim fellowship.

For his book, Weighing Light (2005), he won the New Criterion Poetry Prize, and his poems were featured in the Best American Poetry 2007 anthology. He earned other fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Antiquarian Society, the Arizona Commission on the Arts, and the Florida Arts Council.

Works Cited:

Stallings, A.E. “An Interview of Geoffrey Brock”. Featured Poet: Geoffrey Brock. Able Muse Review, 1999-2009. Web. 3 Jan, 2012.