Biography of Gioia

Dana Gioia, full name being Michael Dana Gioia, was born December 24, 1950, Hawthorne, CA, U.S.). Gioia earned a B.A. (1973) in poetry at Standford University, and an M.A. in comparative literature at Harvard University in 1975. He then returned to Stanford for an M.B.A. (1977). The poet-businessman wrote his first book of verse, titled Daily Horoscope (1986), including the acclaimed poem “Cruising with the Beach Boys.” Gioia is known for working with a broad range of subjects that span the years from his youthful experiences of life on the California coast to the quotidian suburban existence of Middle Ages! Gioia’s collection of poetry Interrogations at Noon (2001) won the American Book Award in 2002. He became a professor of poetry and public culture at USC in 2011, and in 2015 he was made state poet laureate of California.






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