Primus St. John
*The birth of Primus St. John is celebrated on this date in 1939. He is a Black writer and educator.
Born in New York City, New York, St. John attended the University of Maryland and Lewis and Clark College. His collections of poetry include Communion: Poems, 1976-1998 (Copper Canyon Press, 1999), which won the Western States Book Award; Dreamer (1990), which received the 1990 Hazel Hall Award for Poetry; Love is Not a Consolation: It is a Light (1982); and Skin on the Earth (1976).
He is also the editor of the anthologies From Here We Speak (1993) and Zero Makes Me Hungry (1976). His work has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. Through the National Endowment for the Arts, St. John helped to initiate the Poets in the Schools Program. He has been a Portland State University professor for over thirty years, teaching English literature and creative writing. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
