Poet Michael S. Harper passed away on May 7. He was 78. The first poet laureate of Rhode Island, he was professor emeritus of literary arts and English at Brown University, where he taught for 43 years.

Harper was born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 13, 1938. He earned a BA and MA from what is now known as California State University, and an MFA from the University of Iowa.

Harper published 15 volumes of poetry over the course of his career, including Songlines in Michaeltree: New and Collected Poems, and in 2008, he was awarded the Poetry Society of America’s highest honor, the Frost Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry. His first book Dear John, Dear Coltrane was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1970, as was 1977’s Images of Kin.

The Poetry Foundation’s biography of the poet cites John Callahan in the New Republic, calling Harper “a deeply complex poet whose mission is to unite the fractured, inhumane technologies of our time with the abiding deep well of Negro folk traditions.”

Harper’s reading for the University of California’s Lunch Poem series in 2003 is available to watch. Robert Hass, introducing him, said, “If you read his poems, you can see both the inner and outer struggle of this amazing man to find a language for his experience in America.”

Photo credit: Dorothy Alexander.