Dave Etter was born in California in 1928.
He settled in northern llionis in 1958 and worked
as an editor for several book publishers. He has won
prizes from the Society of Midland Authors, Poetry
Northwest (Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize)
and the Illinois Sesquicentennial Commission. In 1982 his book West of
Chicago (Spoon River, 1981) won the Carl Sandburg A ward in poetry. Etter’s
poems have appeared in over a hundred textbooks and anthologies. His other
works include The Essential Dave Etter (Spoon River, 2001), and Sunflower
County (Spoon River, 1994).