University of Illinois Press, 1977. Nightmare Begins Responsibility. Pym-Randall Press, 1981. I Want a Witness. Discussion Questions 1.
Harper struggles with how the poet can make the transition from music to literature.
Biography Michael S. Harper, the poet laureate of Rhode Island, is one of the country's most prolific writers. Nominated twice for the National Book Award, he has been honored by the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1995. He won the 1996 George Kent Poetry Award for Honorable Amendments, and in 1997 he was awarded the Claiborne Pell Award for Excellence in Arts. He is University Professor of English at Brown University, where he directs the writing program.