Clemens Starck

Several of his poems, including "One of the Locals", were read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac. A chapter dedicated to Starck's poetry, “Clemens Starck: ‘poems in my head, a hammer in my hand,” is within Durable Goods: Appreciations of Oregon Poets, written by Erik Muller and published by Mountains & Rivers Press in 2017. Jon Broderick, founder of the annual FisherPoets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon, cites Starck as the inspiration for the festival. "Clem wrote poetry about work. I had never considered doing that. I immediately thought about the fishermen I knew who wrote, and decided to get a few people together to give it a try." In 2018, Empty Bowl a small independent Pacific Northwest press, initiated a new series focused on collected and selected poems from Pacific Northwest writers. The series was launched with Finn Wilcox's Too Late to Turn Back Now: Prose and Poems. Starck's Cathedrals and Parking Lots: Collected Poems is the second book in this series.

• Name — Clemens Starck • Born — 30 November 1937 • Died — 21 March 2024 • Occupation — Poet • Awards — Oregon Book Award (1996)

He died, age 86, on March 21, 2024.

• Journeyman’s Wages (Story Line Press, 1995) • Studying Russian on Company Time (Silverfish Review Press, 1999) • China Basin (Story Line Press, 2002) • Traveling Incognito (Wood Works, 2004) • Rembrandt, Chainsaw (Wood Works, 2011) • Old Dogs, New Tricks (Oblio, 2016) • Cathedrals and Parking Lots: Collected Poems (Empty Bowl, November 2018)

• Looking for Parts (2008) • Getting It Straight (2013)

• Good Poems for Hard Times, ed. Keillor (Penguin, 2006) • From Here We Speak: An Anthology of Oregon Poetry, ed. St. John (Oregon State University Press, 1993) • Where is Vietnam? American Poets Respond, ed. Lowenfels (Doubleday Anchor, 1967) • Poetry Daily: 366 Poems from the World’s Most Popular Poetry Website, eds. Boller and Selby (Sourcebooks, 2003) • Paperwork: Contemporary Poems from the Job, ed. Wayman (Harbour, 1991)