Dave Etter

David Pearson Etter (March 18, 1928 – July 10, 2015) was an American poet. He was known for poems evoking small-town midwestern life. His most famous volume was written as 222 monologues in the voices of citizens of the imaginary community of “Alliance, Illinois,” which was based in part on his experiences living for many years in his adopted hometown of Elburn, Illinois.Reviewing an early collection of his work, poet Lisel Mueller notes that Etter was “strongly influenced by Masters, Lindsay, and Sandburg, he is a chronicler of Midwest prairie towns and the disappearing race of semi-rural people, with their inarticulate dreams and dark secrets”. Poet Jay Paul noted that Etter converted colloquialism into “a poetic innovation that displays the variety and humor of midwestern speech.”Etters poems have been published in eight foreign countries and translated into German, Polish, and Japanese. He published thirty books and chapbooks of his own poems, which were included in over 100 textbooks and anthologies. The literary journal Spoon River Quarterly published a special issue in 1983 devoted to Dave Etter, including an autobiographical essay, and interviews with the poet by Norbert Blei, Robert C. Bray, Victor Contoski, Jim Ellege, and Dan Jaffe.

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