Jim Peterson was born in Augusta, Georgia; grew up in South Carolina; and has lived in Montana and Virginia. He received his BA, MA, and PhD from the University of South Carolina. He recently retired as Coordinator of Creative Writing and Writer in Residence at Randolph College in Lynchburg, Virginia. He has published five full-length poetry collections: The Man Who Grew Silent (The Bench Press), An Afternoon with K (Holocene Press), The Owning Stone (Red Hen Press), the Bob and Weave (Red Hen Press), and Original Face (Gunpowder Press). Also, three chapbooks have been published: Carvings on a Prayer Tree (Holocene), Jim Peterson’s Greatest Hits 1984-2000 (Pudding House), and The Resolution of Eve(Finishing Line Press). His poems have appeared widely in literary publications including Poetry, Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Poetry Northwest, Connecticut Review, Texas Review, Chariton Review, Greensboro Review, Laurel Review, Southern Poetry Review and numerous others. His manuscript The Owning Stone won The Benjamin Saltman Award in 1999, and his poetry was awarded a Poetry Fellowship by the Virginia Commission on the Arts for 2003. He also writes fiction, plays, and nonfiction. His novel Paper Crown was published by Red Hen Press. His play The Shadow Adjuster was first produced by the theater department at Montana State University-Billings and was later produced by Straw Dog Theatre in Chicago. Other plays that have been produced include Ruby Cat and Mister Dog, Beholder, The Falling Man, and Seeing Purple. His plays have been selected for the New American Plays Festival in South Carolina and ten times for The Missoula Colony sponsored by The Montana Repertory Theatre of the University of Montana. The digital film Beholder (based on Peterson’s one-act play of the same name) has been selected for the Mount Hood Film Festival in Oregon and the Flathead Filmfest in Montana. He has been married for many years to the amazing equestrian/musician Harriet, and the two of them live in service to their charismatic Welsh Corgi, Mama Kilya, in Lynchburg, Virginia.
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