Todd Davis & Noah Davis

~ Matt Boutte

Todd Davis is the author of six full-length collections of poetry—Native Species; Winterkill; In the Kingdom of the Ditch; The Least of These; Some Heaven; and Ripe—as well as of a limited-edition chapbook, Household of Water, Moon, and Snow. He edited the nonfiction collection, Fast Break to Line Break: Poets on the Art of Basketball, and co-edited the anthology Making Poems. His writing has won the Midwest Book Award, the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize, the Chautauqua Editors Prize, the Bloomsburg University Book Prize, and the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Silver and Bronze Awards. His poems appear in such noted journals and magazines as American Poetry Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Iowa Review, North American Review, Missouri Review, Gettysburg Review, Orion, Poetry Northwest, Willow Springs, Sycamore Review, and Poetry Daily. He teaches environmental studies, creative writing, and American literature at Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona College. Todd’s website can be found here.

Noah Davis grew up in Tipton, Pennsylvania, and writes about the Allegheny Front. Davis’ manuscript Of This River was selected by George Ella Lyon for the 2019 Wheelbarrow Emerging Poet Book Prize from Michigan State University’s Center for Poetry, and his poems and prose have appeared in The Sun, Best New Poets, Orion, North American Review, River Teeth, Sou’wester, and Chautauqua among others. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize by Poet Lore and Natural Bridge, and he has been awarded a Katharine Bakeless Nason Fellowship at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the 2018 Jean Ritchie Appalachian Literature Fellowship from Lincoln Memorial University. Davis earned an MFA from Indiana University and now lives with his wife, Nikea, in Missoula, Montana. Noah’s website can be found here.

What a great interview. Todd and Noah Davis, each published poets in their own rights, made for a fascinating discussion because of the way they view nature, the world, and their writing, but the fact that they are father and son brought a unique dynamic that made the discussion that much richer. We talk about poetry and writing as “making a life,” rather than “making a living.” We talk a lot about what Todd refers to as, “a way of being more fully present in the world,” and about Noah’s experience being raised by a poet-father. I think this is one of my best conversations so far and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

The Deckle Edge Blog & Podcast – Todd & Noah Davis – 01/18/21

Todd’s books:

Noah’s book

Other books mentioned in this episode:

Other people mentioned in this episode:

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Published by Matt Boutte

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