About the Author

John McCarthy is the author of Scared Violent Like Horses (Milkweed Editions, 2019), which was selected by Victoria Chang as the winner of the Jake Adam York Prize. He is also the author of one previous poetry collection, Ghost County (Midwestern Gothic Press, 2016), which was named a Best Poetry Book of 2016 by The Chicago Review of Books.

His third collection, This Brutal Vanishing, will be published by Texas Review Press / Sam Houston State University in the Spring of 2028.

John is the author of the chapbook The Wyeth Ekphrastics (Burnside Review, 2026), which won the Burnside Review Chapbook Prize.

His work has appeared or is forthcoming in many journals and anthologies, including Best New Poets and New Poetry from the Midwest.

Additionally, he was a past winner of The Pinch Literary Award in Poetry, and his work has been featured on Poetry Daily. The Chicago Guild Literary Complex, in honor of their 30th anniversary, named John one of “30 Writers to Watch.” John’s work has also been featured on The Slowdown, a daily podcast, hosted by the former U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.

John holds a BA in Writing and Publishing from Benedictine University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He has received writing residencies from creative centers in Croatia, Ecuador, France, and Iceland.

John lives in Illinois where he is an adjunct creative writing professor in the School of Professional Studies at Northwestern University. He also serves as Managing Editor for RHINO magazine.