John Haines began writing poetry during his first winter as a homesteader in interior Alaska, 1947-48.  He continued to write while seriously engaged in his art studies in Washington DC and New York City during the early 1950's.  He eventually gave up his work in painting and sculpture and devoted himself to his writing.
   Returned to his Alaska homestead in 1954, Haines spent the next 14 years in a rural isolation while making a living from the land he had chosen to settle.  His first book of poems, "Winter News", was published in 1966.
   Since then, Haines has published many books of poems, as well as collections of essays and literary criticism.  An Alaska memoir, "The Stars, The Snow, The Fire", first appeared in 1989 and has since been reissued in a new paperback edition by Graywolf Press.
   He has taught at many colleges and universities, including the University of Montana, The University of Washington, Ohio University, and most recently, Bucknell University.  He has received a number of awards and fellowships, from the Guggenheim Foundation, The American Academy of Arts & Letters, the Western States Arts Federation, and the Academy of American Poets.
   His most recent book of poems, "For the Century's End:  Poems 1990-99", was published by the University of Washington Press in 2001.