Christopher Irwin Bursk (1943-2021) was a poet who won numerous awards for both his humanitarian and literary efforts. Bursk received a B.A. from Tufts University, a M.A. and Ph.D. from Boston University, and a M.F.A. from Warren Wilson University. In 2021 he was especially proud to receive an A.A. from Bucks County Community College where he has taught since 1971. A recipient of NEA, Guggenheim and Pew Fellowships, Chris is the author of 16 books of poetry, including The First Inhabitants of Arcadia. His last book, With Aeneas in a Time of Plague, was published by Ragged Sky Press just weeks after his death.
His work has appeared in magazines such as Paris Review, American Poetry Review, Poetry, Manhattan Review, and The Sun. His poem “Ovid at Fifteen” won the Another Chicago Magazine Award, judged by Robert Dana. His book The Infatuations and Infidelities of Pronouns (2011) won the Bright Hill Chapbook competition.
Chris also worked for three decades as a volunteer in the corrections system teaching the writing of poetry to those on probation and parole, won the Bucks County (PA) Citizen of the Year Award, and organized numerous events to raise money for local Bucks County agencies such as A Woman's Place, The Peace Center, Bucks County Homeless Shelter, and NOVA.
