William Stafford Memorial

Welcome to the William Stafford Memorial!

Born in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1914, William Stafford was one of our most prolific and celebrated poets. He was a witness for peace, and for honesty, recognizing in his writing that "justice will take us millions of intricate moves."

Author of over fifty books, and recipient of the National Book Award for Traveling through the Dark, Stafford was a professor at Lewis & Clark College, and a traveling teacher throughout the world. As a conscientious objector during World War II, he began his unswerving habit of writing before dawn each day, and his habitual generosity to other writers and readers. After serving as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1970, he was named Oregon's Poet Laureate in 1975. He died at his home in Oregon in 1993.

William Stafford was a long-time friend of Graywolf Press and he published Smoke's Way, a collection of poems from limited editions, with Graywolf in 1983. Publishing The Way It Is in 1998, five years after Stafford's death, brought us in even closer contact with Stafford's family, friends, colleagues, students, and fans — of which, we soon realized, there are a countless number.

William Stafford often wrote a poem each day, including on the day of his death. We are particularly grateful to have this last poem, available as a pdf for download.

Everyone, it seems, has a story about William Stafford. His presence and generosity is still felt deep within American poetry and by those his life, work, and teachings nourished. We have gathered the following short essays and remembrances from family members, students, colleagues, and fellow poets — they would all be considered friends — to celebrate Stafford's place among contemporary American poetry and among us.

If you have a short story, thoughts, or a remembrance to share about William Stafford as well, please send it to us. It is always gratifying to hear from Stafford's readers, and we will post the best of these responses here on the Graywolf web site. Check back to find new, additional pieces and poems.

A Little Love Story about People and Books by Dorothy Stafford

Connecting Earth and Sky by Barbara Stafford-Wilson

Scent by Kit Stafford

Memories from William Stafford's Grandchildren

Light in the Picture: The Gift of William Stafford by Naomi Shihab Nye

Hoodoos and Thunderbird Boots by Fred Marchant

Videotaping William Stafford: El Dorado, Kansas, November 1986 by Vincent Wixon

One Wild Conjecture by Debra Frasier

On the Highest Dune by Kim Stafford

Thinking of Bill in Atchison, Kansas by Robert Bly