Coleman Barks

A translator and poet, Coleman Barks was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and earned a BA from the University of North Carolina, an MA from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD from the University of North Carolina. He taught English at the University of Georgia for roughly three decades. His translations of Rumi, collected in volumes including The Essential Rumi (HarperSanFrancisco, 1995), have sold widely. His own poetry collections include The Juice (1972) and Gourd Seed (1993).