Sandra McPherson

Sandra Jean McPherson (born August 2, 1943) is an American poet.

Born in San Jose, California, McPherson received her B.A. at San Jose State University, and studied at the University of Washington, with Elizabeth Bishop and David Wagoner. She considers her "literary mothers" to be Elizabeth Bishop, Carolyn Kizer, and Adrienne Rich.

She has taught at the Iowa Writer's Workshop, the Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Haystack Portland State University, University of California at Berkeley Spring 1981 or 1982 as Roberta Holloway Visiting Lecturer, and the Art of the Wild Conference. She is a Professor Emerita at the University of California at Davis.[1] Having been a featured poet on the poetry circuits of Ohio, Kentucky, and Connecticut, she has also read in most states: Washington D.C., Louisiana, Georgia, Indiana, Utah, Texas, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Florida, Delaware, Virginia, Arkansas, Alabama, and California.

Her father, Walt McPherson, was head basketball coach at San Jose State and commissioner of the West Coast Athletic Conference.[2][3]