Friedsam Library
St. Bonaventure University
Special Collections
Thomas Krampf
Poet
1934-2022
Friedsam Library
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Thomas Krampf was the author of eight books of poems. They include Sea of Perpetuity: A Set of Three Chapbooks of Flower Poems (2021); The Divine Genome (Guernica Editions 2017);Selected Poems, with the essay “Perfecting the Art of Falling” (Salmon Poetry 2013); Poems to My Wife and Other Women (Salmon Poetry 2007); Taking Time Out: Poems in Remembrance of Madness (Salmon Poetry 2004); Shadow Poems (Ischua Books 1997); Satori West (Ischua Books 1987); and Subway Prayer and Other Poems of the Inner City (Morning Star Press 1976).
Thomas Krampf read his work in universities, colleges, and secondary schools, both in the United States and abroad. He also appeared on National Public Radio in New York and Buffalo. In 2001, he was awarded a teaching residency at the Linenhall Arts Centre in Castelbar, Ireland, and in 2005 the French author and poet, Raymond Bozier, translated his long “Subway Prayer” poem, with excerpts published in the French literary journal, Place Aux Sens. In 2006, he participated in the “Printemps des Poetes” (Springtime of the Poets) literary festival in La Rochelle, France, with leading poets from France and Iran. He was also one of the first U. S. poets invited to read at the Eden Mills Literary Festival, Ontario, Canada. In 2011, he collaborated in a recital with the composer Sun Mi Ro at Houghton College, NY.
Thomas Krampf earned a B. A. in English from Dartmouth College. He had much experience teaching poetry and creative writing to the gifted and talented, the learning disabled, and the mentally ill. He has also taught in drug rehabilitation centers and prisons. He lived much of his life southwestern New York with his wife, Francoise and their three daughters.
Krampf was born October 9, 1934. He died November 12, 2022 after retiring to France.