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Raised in western Pennsylvania, Joseph Millar received an MA from Johns Hopkins University in 1970, after which he worked in a variety of occupations, including telephone installation and commercial fishing. His writing includes two books of poetry from Eastern Washington University Press, Overtime (2001) and Fortune (2006), as well as two chapbooks, Slow Dancer and Midlife: (Passionate Lives: Eight Autobiographical Poem Cycles). In 1995, Millar was awarded first place in the Montalvo Biennial Poetry Competition, judged by Garrett Hongo, and won second place in the National Writers' Union Competition, judged by Philip Levine. His work has appeared in many magazines and journals, including Alaska Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Poetry International, and Prairie Schooner. He has also been the recipient of fellowships from the Montalvo Center for the Arts and Oregon Literary Arts. He teaches at Oregon State University, The University of Oregon, and Pacific University's MFA in Writing Program. Yusef Komunyakaa has described Millar as a “poet we can believe,” because his poetry not only focuses on commonplace jobs, possessions, and situations, but because his voice is charged with such authority regarding these matters. We met with Mr. Millar over lunch at the Palm Court Grill in Spokane.