Paul Christensen (Author) : Paul Christensen is widely recognized as a major critic of contemporary literature. He is a distinguished memoirist and poet. His books cover a wide range of interests, from other writers to his own experiences living and teaching in Texas and France, as well as seven book-length collections of poems and several hundred published essays. His scholarly work includes two acclaimed critical biographies of the poets Charles Olson and Clayton Eshleman, and an edition of the letters of Charles and Edward Dahlberg, as well as numerous articles on modern writers and literary movements. He has written two memoirs, West of the American Dream: An Encounter with Texas and Strangers in Paradise: A Memoir of Provence (Wings, 2007).Among his award-winning books of poems are Signs of the Whelming, Blue Alleys: Prose Poems and The Mottled Air (the last two were recipients of the Violet Crown Award from the Writers' League of Texas), and Hard Country. Together with Rick Bass, he edited Falling From Grace in Texas: A Literary Response to the Demise of Paradise (Wings, 2004). Christensen's short stories have appeared in many national journals and received honors from the Texas Institute of Letters and other professional literary organizations.

He teaches modern literature and creative writing at Texas A&M University and lives part of the year in southern France. He is a contributing editor on French culture to the journal France Today and writes frequently for the political weekly, The Texas Observer. He was a NEA poetry fellow in 1991 and has twice been appointed a senior lecturer by the Fulbright Commission. He is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters.