David Staudt grew up in Lehighton, Carbon County, the son of factory workers. A Navy veteran, he earned an M.F.A. in writing from Cornell, and taught briefly at Cornell and at Susquehanna University. He has published almost ninety poems, stories, and essays in literary journals. His book of poems, The Gifts and Thefts, was selected by Ted Kooser for the 2000 Backwaters Prize and published by Backwaters Press. He currently lives in York.
