Will Inman

Will Inman, born as William Archibald McGirt Jr., was a notable poet of the 20th century. He was born on May 4, 1923, in Wilmington, North Carolina. A proud alumnus of New Hanover High School, he went on to graduate from Duke University in 1943.

Throughout his life, Will held many roles, from working in a shipyard during World War II to becoming an activist in 1947 after his endeavours organizing tobacco industry workers in the Blue Ridge Mountains fell short. He briefly aligned himself with the Communist party but later distanced himself due to its lack of humanity. His affiliations led to him being called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1956. In order to distance himself from his past and focus on writing, he moved to New York City where he worked in libraries.

From 1964 to 1977, Will edited and published the groundbreaking poetry newsletter, Kauri, a major part of the Mimeo Revolution of the Sixties. The newsletter published the works of notable poets like Charles Bukowski, Clarence Major, Walter Lowenfels, William Packard, Ron Silliman, and John Sinclair.

In the middle of his career, in 1967, he accepted the appointment to be the Poet-in-Residence at American University. He also taught at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland, and was an active supporter of anti-war and gay rights movements.

In 1973, he moved to Tucson, Arizona. His anthology, Fired Up with You: Poems of a Niagara Vision, was one of the earliest to feature the poetry of Jimmy Santiago Baca and pioneering feminist writer, Barbara Mor.

The culmination of Inman's experiences led him to write a memoir, which he completed in 1998. While it was not published, a copy of it was donated to the Rubenstein Rare Book Library at Duke University. In 2009, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease, Will passed away. His legacy, however, lives on through his letters, manuscripts, and publications, which are collected and cherished by institutions like Duke University and the University of North Carolina Wilmington.

Notable among his printed works are titles like "Surfings: Selected Poems," "I READ YOU GREEN, MOTHER," "Surfing the Dark Sound," and "108 Verges Until Now."