Richard Tayson s first book of poetry, The Apprentice of Fever (Kent State University Press, 1998), was the 1997 Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Prize winner. Tayson s other awards include a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, Prairie Schooner s Edward Stanley Award, and a Pushcart Prize. Tayson s co-authored book of non-fiction, Look Up for Yes (1998), appeared on bestseller lists in Germany, and has been included in Reader s Digest s Today s Best Nonfiction in the United States, Germany and Australia. He lives in Queens, New York.