When Professor of English John Kinsella asked to have a word with him, Andrew Grace never figured he was about to make a leap from undergraduate poet to published author. "John asked to talk to me in the hall before class," recalls Grace. "He told me, 'I really believe in your work and I want to commission a manuscript.' John talks really quickly, so he outlined the book deal in two minutes without my saying a word. Then I had to sit quietly in class like nothing had happened! It was amazing."

While Kenyon cannot guarantee that all students with an interest in writing poetry will get a book contract before graduation, the sort of one-on-one attention that helped build the power of Grace's work isn't rare. "Especially if you go into English," says Grace. "The department is so big and so good, you're bound to form a personal relationship with at least one great professor."

Following his graduation in 2001, Grace spent a year living in nearby Mount Vernon and finishing his manuscript. His volume of poems, A Belonging Field, was released by Salt Publishing in December of 2002. "I can't thank John Kinsella or Kenyon enough for this opportunity," says Grace."Being a great poet is work as well as inspiration," says Kinsella. "Andrew has both. I think this is what Kenyon writing teaches: good ideas need to be matched by a sound approach."