John Haag

Born in Sandpoint, Idaho, John Haag published three books of poetry: The Mirrored Man (University of Reading Press, 1961), The Brine Breather (Kayak Books, 1971), and Stones Don’t Float: Poems Selected and New (Ohio State University Press, 1996), the winner of the Press’s Journal/Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize. Haag was a member of the Merchant Marines during World War II and a naval veteran of the Korean conflict. He studied at the University of Washington with James Wright and Theodore Roethke; his classmates included Carolyn Kizer, Richard Hugo, and David Wagoner. He earned an MA from the University of Reading on a Fulbright scholarship. Much of his poetry dissects his experiences in the armed forces and demonstrates his fascination with the natural world. Haag was a professor of English at Penn State University for over 30 years, from 1961 to 1994. He died in 2008.