Meet the Poet
Phillip Carriere
Phil Carriere was born in the territory of Alaska to a military family that quickly moved to Maine and then to Morocco and finally Italy, before returning to the US. He states: “My time in Morocco during the rebellion against French colonialists has had a dramatic effect on my understanding of life and the human experience. I saw first-hand the dance of life and death all around me.” He began writing poems at eleven after encountering the work of Sylvia Plath and Ann Sexton. Before returning to school in 2001 his work appeared in publications such as One Trick Pony, Aura Literary Arts Review, Shades of December and The Blind Man’s Rainbow. During his school days at the University of South Carolina he was selected to write a series of poems reflecting on the life and work of James Dickey for the conference held by the university in honor of Dickey’s work. He performed those poems along with other selected South Carolina poets in front of the surviving members of Dickey’s family. He was also published in Visions International and Yemassee. He received his MFA in 2007 and teaches writing at a local college. He has been married for forty five years to the same woman, has two fine sons, eight grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Read.