Contact: Teresa S. Thomas
412-268-3580

For immediate release:
April 12, 2002

Carnegie Mellon Professor and Poet Published Three Times in One Month

PITTSBURGH—In just one month, Jim Daniels, professor and director of Carnegie Mellon University's Creative Writing program, has had three poetry books published.

The new titles, Digger's Blues, Night with Drive-By Shooting Stars and Greatest Hits, gives Daniels, 46, a total of 16 published books, a one-act play and a screenplay.

A native of Detroit's working class neighborhoods, Daniels, like his father and many of his friends, worked at Ford Motor Company and other jobs before earning a bachelor of arts degree from Alma College in 1978, and a masters of fine arts degree from Bowling Green University in 1980. Daniels has been described as an "urban" poet who dignifies the working-class, as his work often features the under-represented world of blue-collar work.

Digger's Blues, published by Adastra Press and printed in the form of a limited-edition chapbook, is the sequel to his 1989 chapbook Digger's Territory. The subject of the poems, the Digger, has aged and matured since the character was first introduced to readers in 1989, yet continues to be "the auto-worker's everyman," according to Daniels.

Night With Drive-By Shooting Stars is Daniels' most recent full-length book since Blue Jesus in 2000. Both are published by New Issues. In this poetry text, Daniels explores the implication of the working class in his personal and family life.

Greatest Hits is part of a project by publisher Pudding House Press in which many notable poets are asked to compile their favorite 12 pieces of work. This chapbook contains an introduction to, and history of, Daniels' selections. Critic Robert McDowell of Hudson Review wrote, "As with the best poetry, one can read Jim Daniels on many levels."

Daniels' other full-length books include No Pets, Blessing the House, Punching Out and Places/Everyone. His earlier chapbooks are Niagara Falls, The Long Ball and On The Line.

For further information about Digger's Blues, Night with Drive-By Shooting Stars and Greatest Hits, contact Daniels at 412-268-2842. His books are available through the publishers and amazon.com.