By Lauryn Jelsema, Culture Editor
Headshot of Christopher Merril – Photo by Tim Schoon, staff photographer for the University of Iowa
Christopher Merrill is an American poet, essayist, journalist and translator. Currently, he serves as director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
Thursday, March 26, Merill will be coming to Aquinas as part of the school’s Contemporary Writers Series, which is a curated look at the literature in people’s lives. The series holds a craft talk and workshop at noon for staff and students in the Loutit Room, as well as an evening reading in the Kretschmer Recital Hall from 6-7p.m. that is open to the public.
Merrill was born in Northampton, Massachusetts and raised in New Jersey. He holds two degrees: a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middlebury College, and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from the University of Washington.
After graduating, Merrill went on to become a well-decorated writer. He has received a knighthood in arts and letters from the French government. A knighthood is a very rare honor, and typically requires a minimum of 20 years of public service or 25 years of professional activity with exceptional achievements. However due to Merrill’s international leadership as director of the International Writing Program (IWP) at the University of Iowa since 2000, his conduction of cultural diplomacy missions for the U.S. State Department in over 50 countries and his prolific literary work as an acclaimed poet, essayist, and journalist, Merrill was more than qualified to receive the award. Additionally, he has won the I. B. Lavan Younger Poets Award for his poetry collection Watch Fire (1995), and he is a member of both the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO and the National Council on the Humanities.
Merrills other poetry collections include Brilliant Water (2001), Boat (2013) and Necessities (2013).
Although his poetry is what he is best known for, Merrill is also an accomplished essayist and journalist. The writer’s non-fiction prose Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain (2005) and The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War (2011) detail his time spent in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Merrill also has two published books, The Old Bridge: The Third Balkan War and the Age of the Refugee (1995) and Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars (2001), covering the Balkan Wars, a series of violent conflicts following the violent breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. Merrill had initially arrived in Slovenia in 1991 for a travel assignment and began to witness refeguees from Bosnia and Croatia coming into the country, forcing him to give up his travel piece and cover the war.
“I came of age as a writer covering a war, where you have to get everything right, insofar you can, because the stakes are so high,” said Merrill in an interview with the Los Angeles Review of Books.
One of Merrill’s books, Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars (2001), written in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars – Photo by Bloomsburry Publishing
The two books cover his ten journeys to the region between 1992 and 1996, during which Merrill witnessed the siege of Sarajevo. This event deepend his commitment to continue covering the conflicts and encourage him to explore and document his own thoughts in the aftermath.
Shellie Jeffries serves as the Director of the Contemporary Writers Series, whose job is to each out to authors to see if they would like to come to Aquinas.
“Christopher Merrill was scheduled to speak back in 2020 but we had to cancel his appearance due to COVID restrictions and have been wanting to invite back to campus ever since,” said Jeffries. “As we were considering our theme for this year — nature writing — we realized his work fit it perfectly.”
The series has a different theme each year, which is determined by the Writers Series planning committee, and it’s something that shapes the process of determining which authors to invite to speak.
“A theme helps focus each season and gives it a nice cohesion,” said Jeffries.
Next year, the Contemporary Writers Series is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary, with authors Sarah Kay, Joy Harjo, and Luis Alberto Urrea already lined up to speak.
Merrill is the final speaker for the series this year, and will be rounding out the authors chosen to speak on the theme of nature.
Students and staff can hear some of Merrill’s work at his presentation on March 26, both at noon in the Loutit Room and at 6 p.m. in the Kretschmer Recital Hall.
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