Craig Arnold (November 16, 1967 – c. April 27, 2009) was an American poet and professor. His first book of poems, Shells (1999), was selected by W. S. Merwin for the Yale Series of Younger Poets.[1] His many honors include the 2005 Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize Fellowship in literature, The Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Fellowship, an Alfred Hodder Fellowship, a Fulbright Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and a MacDowell Fellowship.[2][3]
On April 27, 2009, Arnold went missing on the small volcanic island of Kuchinoerabujima, Japan. He went for a solo hike to explore an active volcano on the island and never returned to the inn where he was staying. While Japanese law mandates government-backed searches for three days, on April 30, 2009, the Japanese government agreed to extend the search an additional three days.[7] Arnold was not found, and the search was then picked up by the international non-governmental organization 1st Special Response Group.[8] Arnold's trail was found near a high cliff, and he was presumed to have died from a fall near the date of his disappearance.[9]
A collection of poetry, Love, an Index, written by Arnold's partner Rebecca Lindenberg and telling the story of their relationship, was published in March 2012.[10]
A detailed account of Arnold's last few days and the extensive search, entitled An Exchange for Fire, was written by Christopher Blasdel and appeared in the anthology My Postwar Life: New Writings from Japan and Okinawa, published by Chicago Quarterly Review Books, January, 2012.[11][12]
Bibliography
Collections
Arnold, Craig. 1999. Shells. Yale series of younger poets, v. 93. New Haven: Yale University Press, ISBN0-300-07909-5