Christopher Merrill has published seven collections of poetry, including Watch Fire, for which he received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets; many edited volumes and translations; and six books of nonfiction, among them, Only the Nails Remain: Scenes from the Balkan Wars; The Tree of the Doves: Ceremony, Expedition, War; and Self-Portrait with Dogwood. As director of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa since 2000, Merrill has conducted cultural diplomacy missions to more than fifty countries. (updated 12/2021)

Merrill’s Watch Fire was reviewed in AGNI 42 by Agha Shahid Ali.