About Frank

Frank X. Gaspar was born and raised in Provincetown, Massachusetts. A Portuguese-American, his paternal grandparents immigrated from the Island of San Miguel, and his maternal grandparents from the Island of Pico, both in the Azorean Archipelago. His ancestors were traditionally whalers and Grand-Banks fishermen, sailing out of the Islands and then Provincetown. After graduating from Provincetown High School, Gaspar spent a year in New York City and then a year in Boston, Mass. before going to sea himself with the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. After his discharge he attended colleges and universities in California, eventually earning his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Graduate Writing Program at the University of California, Irvine. He is Professor Emeritus at Long Beach City College, and currently teaches in the Graduate Writing Program at Antioch University. A number of his books treat Luso-American themes or settings, particularly the Portuguese community in Provincetown, with an insider’s view of the rich ethnic base of this famously diverse Cape Cod town. His poetry and fiction have received numerous awards and honors, and serious critical attention, both in the United States and Portugal.

 

SELECTED AWARDS & HONORS

·  Anhinga Prize for Poetry (Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death,
   1995)
·  Barnes and Noble Discover Award (novel—Leaving Pico, 1999)
·  Beacon Best of America (Poetry, 1999)
·  Best American Poetry (1996)
·  Best American Poetry (2000)
·  Best Spiritual Writing in America (2000)
·  Borders Books Book of Distinction Award (novel—Leaving Pico, 1999)
·  Bread Loaf Working Scholar in Fiction (1980)
·  Brittingham Prize for Poetry (A Field Guide to the Heavens, 1999)
·  California Arts Commission Scholar in Poetry (1972)
·  California Arts Council Fellowship in Poetry (1998)
·  California Book Award for First Novel (Leaving Pico, 2000)
·  Edward Stanley Poetry Award (Prairie Schooner, 2000)
·  John Atherton Fellow In Poetry (Bread Loaf, 1989)
·  National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (1991)
·  Phi Beta Kappa Certificate for Academic Excellence (1971)
·  Phi Lambda Beta, Fraternitatis Honorificae, U.Mass. Dartmouth
·  Portuguese American Leadership Council Literary Achievement Award
   (2008)
·  Pushcart Prize for Poetry (2001)
·  Pushcart Prize for Poetry (2005)
·  Pushcart Prize for Poetry (2006)
·  The Pushcart Poems: Best poems from 30 years of Pushcart Prizes
·  Samuel French Morse Prize in Poetry (The Holyoke, 1988)
·  Walter Dakin Fellowship in Poetry (University of the South, 1992)

 

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

·  Stealing Fatima (novel) Counterpoint,  2009
·  Night of a Thousand Blossoms (collection of poems) Alice James
    Books, 2004
·  A Field Guide to the Heavens (collection of poems), Wisconsin
    University Press, (Brittingham Prize Book, 1999)
·  Leaving Pico (novel)  Hardscrabble Books, University Press of New
    England, 1999
·  Deixando a Ilha do Pico (novel, Portuguese translation) Edicoes
   Salamandra, Lisbon, 2002
·  Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death (collection of poems) Anhinga
   Press, (Anhinga Prize for Poetry, 1994)
·  The Holyoke  (collection of poems)  (Northeastern University Press,
   Morse Prize Book, 1988) and Portuguese in America Series, University
   of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (2007)
·  Various Anthologies

·  Selected Periodical Publication:  The Nation, The Harvard Review, The
   Hudson Review, The Kenyon Review, The Antioch Review, The Georgia
   Review, The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, The New England
   Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Gettysburg Review, The
   Western Humanities Review, Ploughshares, Quarterly West, Prairie
   Schooner, DoubleTake, Nimrod, WigWag, The Mid-American Review, The
   Green Mountains Review, The Cimarron Review, The Tampa Review,
   Faultline, The Bellingham Review, The James River Review, Pearl,
   Solo 5, Verdad, Gavea-Brown Journal, Suplemento Acoriano de Cultura,
   Mundo Portugues, Mealibra: Revista de Cultura, Neo, AndarILHAgem,
   PoetryMagazine.com, Provincetown Arts, and others.

 

SELECTED POETRY READINGS AND PRESENTATIONS

·  American Studies Association, University of Maine
·  Anhinga Press 25th Anniversary Conference, Tallahassee
·  Associated Writing Programs (several cities)
·  Barnes & Noble Bookstore (several cities)
·  Beyond Baroque, Venice, CA
·  Bookstore Santa Cruz
·  Borders Books, Los Angeles
·  Boston Public Library
·  Bowery Poetry Club, New York City
·  Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
·  Brown University
·  California State University, Long Beach
·  California State University, Northridge
·  California State University, San Bernardino
·  Casa Romantica
·  Dartmouth College
·  Eckerd College, St. Petersburg
·  Eldorado Library
·  Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown
·  Flagler College, St. Augustine
·  Florida State University, Tallahassee
·  Georgia Review Fifty-Year Celebration
·  Huntington Beach Library
·  John F. Kennedy Memorial Library (with Jose Saramago)
·  John Fante Conference, Cal State Long Beach
·  Long Beach Museum of Art
·  Los Angeles Poetry Festival
·  Los Angeles County Museum of Art
·  Miami-Dade College
·  Northeastern University
·  Petaluma Poetry Festival
·  Pima College, Tucson
·  Provincetown Town Hall (with Norman Mailer)
·  Rhapsodomancy, Los Angeles
·  Rio Hondo College
·  Sewanee Writers Conference
·  Tallahassee Writers’ Festival
·  Tampa University
·  The Claremont Colleges (Pitzer College)
·  The Provincetown Poetry Festival
·  The Provincetown Portuguese Festival
·  University of California, Riverside
·  University of Georgia at Athens
·  University of Lisbon
·  University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
·  University of New Hampshire
·  University of Redlands
·  University of Southern Florida
·  University of the Azores
·  Valencia College, Orlando
·  Western New Mexico State University
·  Whittier College
·  Willow Glen Bookstore, San Jose
·  Yale University

 

MILITARY SERVICE

·  Vietnam, U.S. Navy, Tonkin Gulf, Two Tours (1966-1969)
·  Apollo Eleven Recovery Team, Pacific (1969)

 

 

 

Frank's header photo by David A. Lipton