Stafford, Kim Robert

Kim Robert Stafford was born on October 15, 1949 in Portland, Oregon, one of four children of Dorothy and William Stafford, who was also a poet. Stafford’s interest in nature dominates his poetry and essays, which focus on the relationship of people with nature and social custom.

Kim Stafford has spent most of his life in the Pacific Northwest, particularly in Oregon. He received his college and graduate education at the University of Oregon where he obtained his B. A. in 1971, his M. A. in 1973, and his Ph.D. in Middle English Literature in 1979. In addition to a fellowship for graduate study at the University of Oregon from 1971-1974, Stafford received creative writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1976 and 1984.

During the 1970s Stafford began an intense study of printing in Port Townsend, Washington, where he assisted Graywolf Press in the production of printed works of several poets. He has made a practice of regularly issuing postcard editions of his poems from his own press, Ashwood Press.

Stafford places great value on folklore and bases much of the research for his own writing on the study of folk custom and oral history. He served as an oral historian for the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum in Florence, Oregon, in 1975. Stafford’s interest in folk literature led to his regular attendance and support of the Cowboy Poetry Gathering, held annually in Elko, Nevada. In January 1990 he gave the Gathering’s keynote address.

Kim Stafford has steadfastly pursued his creative work in Oregon. He has taught and served as an artist-in-residence throughout the state of Oregon and in Washington, Idaho, and California. He was an artist-in-residence in Burns, Oregon (1975) and Wallowa, Oregon (1978). Stafford taught at Pacific Lutheran University (1980), Idaho Sate University (1981-1982), and the University of California at Davis (1983-1984). He began teaching in 1978 at Lewis and Clark College, and became director of the Northwest Writing Institute (Oregon Writing Project).

A steady contributor to many literary journals, Stafford describes himself as a “professional eavesdropper,” and relies on his daily journal as a source for his writing projects. In 1976 he published a collection of his own poetry, A Gypsy’s History of the World, and contributed to a collection of poetry by his father, Braided Apart . Stafford continues to publish collections of his poetry and prose. His collection of essays, Having Everything Right, won a special award in 1986 from the Western States Arts Foundation.

Stafford has contributed to many Northwest as well as national poetry and literary journals. In Oregon, his work frequently appears in The Oregonian supplement of Northwest Magazine in the poetry section as well as in feature articles. He regularly offers poetry readings and writing workshops and is active as a printer.