James Galvin (1951 - )

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"The history of the meadow goes like this: No one owns it, no one ever will."*

Galvin's debut novel, The Meadow, is the 100-year history of land on the Colorado/Wyoming border. The book includes detailed descriptions of the area's seasons, wildlife, and people.

Galvin was born in Chicago, Illinois, but grew up in northern Colorado, a locale that's frequently featured in his writing. He attended Antioch College in Ohio as well as the University of Iowa where he earned an M.F.A. degree in 1977. He has taught at Murray State University in Kentucky, Humboldt State University in California, and at the UI Writers' Workshop.

In addition to being a novelist, Galvin is a poet; his collections include Imaginary Timber (1980), God's Mistress (1984), and Elements (1988). He is also the author of Fencing the Sky (1999), which reveals ranchers' devotion to the land.

* From The Meadow by James Galvin, copyright 1992 by James Galvin. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt & Co., LLC.