D. Nurkse’s previous books of poetry include Shadow Wars, Isolation in Action and Staggered Lights. He has received two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, the Whiting Writers’ Award, and the 1998 Bess Hokin Prize from Poetry. In 1999, he received a New York State Foundation for the Arts Fellowship. He has also written widely on human rights. In 1996, he was appointed Poet Laureate of Brooklyn.