Christopher Bakken

Christopher Bakken is looking to the viewers right posed in a black collared shirt in front of a blurred bookshelf.
Photo by Derek Li

Title: Professor of English
Department: English
Research Fields of Interest: Creative Writing: Poetry, Nonfiction
Degrees: B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison; M.F.A., Columbia University; Ph.D., The University of Houston

Contact Info:
Email: cbakken@allegheny.edu
Phone: (814) 332-4338
Website: www.christopherbakken.com

Office Location: Odd Fellows 233

Publications:

Books

  • Bakken, Christopher. Driving the Beast. Sewanee Poetry Series. Louisiana State University Press, 2025.
  • Bakken, Christopher. Eternity & Oranges.  Pitt Poetry Series.  University of Pittsburgh Press. 2016.
  • Bakken, Christopher.  Honey, Olives, Octopus: Adventures at the Greek Table.  University of California Press. 2013.
  • Bakken, Christopher. After Greece. Truman State University Press, 2001.
  • Bakken, Christopher. Goat Funeral. Sheep Meadow Press, 2006.
  • Bakken, Christopher. Co-Translator.  The Lions’ Gate: Selected Poems of Titos Patrikios. Truman State University Press, 2006.

Journals, Anthologies, & Textbooks

  • Poetry, essays, and translations recently published or forthcoming in The Paris Review, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, Southwest Review, The Hudson Review, Orion, Ploughshares, Agni, The Iowa Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, The Wall Street Journal, Contemporary Poetry Review, The Gettysburg Review, Teachers & Writers Magazine, and elsewhere.
  • Anthologies and textbooks: Keystone Poetry: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania; Unnatural Disasters: Tales of enchantment, danger, and survival from Orion magazine; Braving the Body, The Eloquent Poem; New European Poetry (editor for Greece and Cyprus); Kindled Terraces: American Poets in Greece; Under the Rock Umbrella: Contemporary American Poetry from 1951-1977; Structure and Surprise: Engaging Poetic Turns; and Writing Poetry: Creative and Critical Approaches.

Selected Conference Papers and Readings
  • Sewanee in Print, Sewanee, TN , 2025
  • International Literary Festival: Tinos, Greece. Featured Presenter. July, 2022
  • “Notes from a Hellenized Barbarian: Cavafy, Karyotakis, Ristos, Patrikios.” Problematics Seminar. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. December, 2021.
  • 7th World Poetry Festival. Athens, Greece. 2021
  •  Stadler Poetry Center, Bucknell University, 2019
  • Carleton College. “A Hellenized Barbarian Raids the Greek Table.” February, 2019.
  • “Taking Stock and Talking Back.” Invited Talk for “Why Read? The Role of the Book in the 21st Century.” Symposium sponsored by the Hellenic Author’s Society. Athens, Greece. October, 2018.
  • Featured Presenter. Patrick Leigh Fermor: To Greece with Love.  University of Copenhagen. January, 2018.
  • Special Session: “Writing “Greece”: Contemporary Writing From, To, and About the Hellenic Space.” Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium.  Stockton University, November, 2017.
  • “Greece in Writing: Christopher Bakken & Natalie Bakopoulos.”  Special Session of the Modern Greek Studies Association Symposium.  Bloomington, IN.   November 2013.
  • PEN World Voices Festival, New York. May, 2009.
  • “The National Undergraduate Literary Magazine: Quality, Visibility, and Stability.” AWP Conference. Chicago. (February, 2009)
  • “Editing the Wide-Scope Anthology: A Panel of New European Poets Editors.” ALTA (American Literary Translators Association) Conference. Minneapolis. (October, 2008)
  • The Writers Union of Romania International Writers’ Festival and Colloquium 2008. Neptun, Romania. (June, 2008)
  • University of Transylvania: Brasov, Romania. (April, 2008)
  • Associated Writing Program conference (reading with John Ashbery & Stanley Moss). New York. (February, 2008)
  • Whittier College (with Bob Hicok and Alan Michael Parker). (March, 2007)
  • “The Ironic Structure.” Panel presentation. Associated Writing Programs Conference. Atlanta. (March, 2007)

Awards

  • Fulbright Scholar | Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (2021-22)
  • Collins Prize for “Theology at Black Earth Creek,” Birmingham Poetry Review (2020)
  • Finalist UNT Rilke Prize, 2018
  • McGinnis Richie Award for Nonfiction, Essay. Southwest Review. (2011)
  • Texas Institute of Letters | Helen C. Smith Memorial Award for Best Book of Poetry for 2006 (for Goat Funeral): Winner. (2007)
  • Texas Institute of Letters | Soeurette Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation of a Book for 2006 (for The Lions’ Gate): Finalist. (2007)
  • Fulbright Fellowship in American Studies | University of Bucharest, Romania. (2007)
  • Willis Barnstone Translation Prize. (2005)
  • International Writers’ and Translators’ Center of Rhodes: Residency. (2004)
  • The T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry | Truman State University Press. (2001)
  • Chef on a Shoestring |CBS Saturday Morning Early Show. (2001)

Sample Faculty Work Online:
Bakken’s poem “For the Dead Union“ at Plume.

Bakken’s poem “Driving the Beast” at Academy of American Poets.

Bakken’s poem “Lesvos” at Academy of American Poet.

Bakken’s poem “Goat Theology” at Plume Poetr

Bakken’s poem “Exile in a Thrift Store Landscape” at Blackbird.

Christopher Bakken discusses his poem “Confession” at The Missouri Review.

Christopher Bakken’s Honey, Olives, Octopus reviewed in the Wall Street Journal.

An interview with Christopher Bakken at Huff Post.