Background
Merrill, Christopher Lyall was born on February 24, 1957 in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. Son of Charles Francis Merrill and Suzanne Sigmund France.
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- Works
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book
The Old Bridge: The Third Balkan War and the Age of the Refugee
(A critical look at the growing problem of refugees examin...)
A critical look at the growing problem of refugees examines the case of the former Yugoslavia, where the author witnessed the efforts of peacekeepers, humanitarian workers, and government leaders to deal with the desperate plight of thousands of people. Original. IP.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1571312080/?tag=2022091-20
Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain by Merrill, Christopher (2005) Hardcover
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011MEXIQ0/?tag=2022091-20
Brilliant Water
( A striking new collection by a poet W. S. Merwin calls ...)
A striking new collection by a poet W. S. Merwin calls "gifted, audacious, and accomplished." A prolific journalist, Merrill's most recent work, two non-fiction books on the crisis in the Balkans, have received tremendous critical acclaim. With this collection, he returns for the first time in seven years to the form closest to his heart: poetry. "No anxiety of influence prevails here; nor is there evidence of a desire to follow any models too closely. Rather, there is a generosity that names names, offers praise, then contributes something new. Merrill lives in a landscape of names, surrounded by eloquent scraps of language allowing him to chant the senses' progress through the world.—John Elder, The Los Angeles Times Christopher Merrill is Director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1893996123/?tag=2022091-20
Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain
(“If I had learned anything during the war, it was that ou...)
“If I had learned anything during the war, it was that our walk in the sun is brief, and so I resolved to wander from monastery to monastery, a sojourner in the world of last things.” So poet and journalist Christopher Merrill tells us near the beginning of this gripping account of the transforming pilgrimages he made to Mount Athos, in Greece, in the aftermath of the Balkan wars of the 1990s. “It was time for me to come to terms with the way my life had turned out: the love I had squandered, the misgivings I had about my vocation and my faith, the dread I felt at every turn.” In despair and out of a longing to end his spiritual desolation, Merrill became one of a handful of visitors permitted entry to Mount Athos–a mysterious land that for more than a thousand years has been the secret heart of the Eastern Orthodox Church. There, amid the beautiful terrain, the ancient rhythms, and the spiritual rigor of this holy place, he found a haven in dramatic contrast to the rest of the world. As Merrill’s story unfolds, we, too, hike the rough trails of Athos, exploring a place and a way of life scarcely altered since medieval times. We share encounters with monks, wolves, and spiritual seekers; visit Athos’s twenty monasteries, where exquisite art treasures are sequestered; make our way to lonely hermitages that clutch the cliffs above the sea. And like Merrill, we come to consider existence in a new and different light. Part journal of personal discovery, part meditation upon the history and traditions of the contemplative life, Things of the Hidden God takes us where the temporal and the eternal intersect, where community and solitude coexist, and where centuries-old practices provide insight for how to live today.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679463054/?tag=2022091-20
Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars
(Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars is a c...)
Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars is a chronicle of poet and critic Christopher Merrill's ten war-time journeys to the Balkans from the years 1992 through 1996. At once a travelogue, a book of war reportage, and a biography of the imagination under siege, this beautifully written and personal narrative takes the reader along on the author's journeys to all the provinces and republics of the former Yugoslavia―Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, and Vojvodina―as well as to Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, and Turkey. His journeys provide the narrative structure for an exploration of the roles and responsibility of intellectuals caught up in a decisive historical moment, many of whom either helped to incite the war or else bore eloquent witness to its carnage. What separates this book-the first non-native literary work on the conflict-from other collections of reportage, political analysis, and polemic, is its concern for capturing the texture of particular places in the midst of dramatic change-the sounds and sights and smells, the stories and observations of victim and perpetrator alike, the culture of war. Here is a literary meditation on war, a fascinating portrait of the poetry, politics and the people of the Balkans that will provide insight into the past, present, and future of those war-torn lands. Hear an interview with the author on NPR's Weekend All Things Considered, February 20th, "Balkan Poets."
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0847698203/?tag=2022091-20
(Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain ) Author: Christopher Merrill Feb-2005
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010BAED7Y/?tag=2022091-20
Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars 1st Printing edition by Merrill, Christopher (2001) Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01181X9SY/?tag=2022091-20
Brilliant Water by Merrill, Christopher (2001) Paperback
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00YRBYFN6/?tag=2022091-20
Watch Fire
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1877727431/?tag=2022091-20
(Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars ) Author: Christopher Merrill Nov-1999
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010BAES9C/?tag=2022091-20
- The Grass of Another Country: A Journey Through the World of Soccer (Henry Holt, 1993, 1st, As new., Bright, clean, tight, in ...)
Christopher Lyall Merrill
Edit Profile
Christopher Lyall Merrill, American writer. Recipient Ingram Merrill Foundation award, 1991, Pushcart Prize in Poetry, 1990, Arts and Letters chevalier French Government, 2006. Member Academy American Poets (Peter Lavan Younger Poets award 1993, Bosnian Stecak award 2001, Kostas Kyriazis International Literature award 2005).
Education
Bachelor, Middlebury College, 1979. Master of Arts, University Washington, 1982.
Career
Director Santa Fe Writers Conference, 1987-1990, Santa Fe Literary Center, 1988-1992. William H. Jenks chair Contemporary Letters College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, 1995-2000. Director international writing program University Iowa, Iowa City, since 2000.
Achievements
Works
book
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The Old Bridge: The Third Balkan War and the Age of the Refugee
(A critical look at the growing problem of refugees examin...)
-
Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain
(“If I had learned anything during the war, it was that ou...)
-
Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars
(Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars is a c...)
-
Brilliant Water
( A striking new collection by a poet W. S. Merwin calls ...)
-
The Grass of Another Country: A Journey Through the World of Soccer
(Henry Holt, 1993, 1st, As new., Bright, clean, tight, in ...)
- Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain by Merrill, Christopher (2005) Hardcover
- (Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain ) Author: Christopher Merrill Feb-2005
- Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars 1st Printing edition by Merrill, Christopher (2001) Paperback
- Brilliant Water by Merrill, Christopher (2001) Paperback
- Watch Fire
- (Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars ) Author: Christopher Merrill Nov-1999
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The Old Bridge: The Third Balkan War and the Age of the Refugee
Membership
Member Academy American Poets (Peter Lavan Younger Poets award 1993, Bosnian Stecak award 2001, Kostas Kyriazis International Literature award 2005).
Interests
Connections
Married Lisa Ellen Gowdy, June 4, 1983. Children: Hannah Frances, Abigail Rose.
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Born
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Nationality
American -
Religion
Episcopalian
Education
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1979
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1982
Career
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1987 - 1990
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1988 - 1992
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1995