Tony Barnstone

Tony Barnstone is a Professor of English at Whittier College, specializing in Creative Writing, Literary Translation, and East Asian Literature. His work bridges Modern American Poetry with Chinese literary traditions, often exploring themes of war, monstrosity, and cultural hybridity.

• Education:
  • B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz
  • M.A. & Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley (dissertation on William Carlos Williams)

Research interests span literary translation from Chinese and Yi texts, eco-poetry in cross-cultural contexts, and graphic novel experimentation via the sonnet form. His personal website details multimedia collaborations with artists and musicians.

Recent trends in his publications include the 2019 anthology Republic of Apples, Democracy of Oranges (Sino-American eco-poetry), the 2015 Human and Inhuman Monster Poems (dark poetic themes), and the 2017 bilingual Yi-Chinese-English Twenty Sonnets for Mother.

• Major Awards:
  • NEA Fellowship (2007)
  • Poets Prize (2011)
  • Strokestown International Poetry Grand Prize (2008)
  • Pushcart Prize (2006)

His community outreach includes teaching poetry to K-12 students in California (1997-2013) and co-developing the Digital Scholars Grant (2014) to integrate e-book technology into creative writing pedagogy.