John Blackard has been influenced by the Voice of America, his love of all-night diner short order call-and-response, and his active participation in on-field baseball chatter. He is known for the unexpected music of free-radical syllabics and his rhetoric of serial disinformation. Inspite of these shortcomings, he has somehow managed to obtain advanced degrees in English Studies and Library & Information Studies, have a career in teaching and librarianship, and receive Fulbright and NEH fellowships. He lives with his wife, the poet Valentina Gnup, in Portland, Oregon. For more information, visit www.johnablackard.com