William Heyen is an American poet, editor, and literary critic. He is the author of numerous books of poetry and fiction, including three poetry collections from BOA Editions: Crazy Horse in Stillness (BOA, 1996), Pig Notes and Other Dumb Music: Prose on Poetry (BOA, 1998), and Diana, Chrales, & the Queen (BOA, 1998). Heyen has received fellowships from the Guggenheim, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
He taught American literature and creative writing at SUNY-Brockport, where he also briefly served as Director of the Brockport Writers Forum, a series of readings by and video interviews with numerous American and international authors. He retired from teaching in 2000, and in In2004, he was one of the five finalists for the National Book Award for poetry for his book Shoah Train (Etruscan Press, 2003). Born in Brooklyn and raised in Suffolk County, he currently lives in Brockport, NY.
