The Leopard’s Mouth Is Dry And Cold Inside

Larry Levis (1946–1996) published five poetry collections during his life, including The Widening Spell of Leaves (1991) and Winter Stars (1985), both from the University of Pittsburgh Press. He also published a book of short stories, Black Freckles (Peregrine Smith Books, 1992). Three books of Levis's poetry have been published posthumously: Elegy (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997), The Selected Levis: Poems 1972–1992 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2000), and a new volume of previously uncollected poems, The Darkening Trapeze: Last Poems , edited by David St. John (Graywolf Press 2016). A collection of Levis’s essays, interviews and reviews, The Gazer Within (University of Michigan Press, 2001), was also posthumously published as part of the Poets on Poetry Series. His work appeared in American Poetry Review , The Southern Review , FIELD , and The New Yorker . Levis won many awards, including the Lamont Poetry Prize, and was selected for the National Poetry Series. He recieved a Fulbright Fellowship as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Levis received a BA from California State University–Fresno, an MA from Syracuse University, and a PhD from the University of Iowa. He taught at the University of Missouri, the University of Utah, the University of Iowa, Warren Wilson College, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Photo by Jay Paul