Bill Knott (1940–2014) was born in Carson City, Michigan, and worked outside literary institutions for much of his career. His debut, The Naomi Poems, Book One: Corpse and Beans (Big Table, 1968), appeared under the pseudonym Saint Geraud, a persona accompanied by a false announcement of his own death. He self-published much of his later work online at no charge. Knott taught for more than two decades at Emerson College and received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Iowa Poetry Prize, and two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
