Speaker

Bill McCloud is an associate poetry editor for Right Hand Pointing magazine. He’s the poetry reviewer for Vietnam Veterans of America.

His first book, What Should We Tell Our Children About Vietnam?, was published by the University of Oklahoma Press and was a Finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award. His second book, The Smell of the Light, a poetry collection published by Balkan Press, reached #1 on the Oklahoman’s “Oklahoma Bestsellers” list. It received a $500 Poetry of Modern Conflict award from the Sangria Summit Society. His third book, The Error of the Stars, another poetry
collection, was published by Silence Dogood Books, an imprint of Sewell Publishing.

His poems have appeared in Oklahoma Today and the Oklahoma English Journal and are studied at the University School of Milwaukee in Wisconsin, the Air Force Academy in Colorado, and the University of Tulsa. He’s a University of Oklahoma Mark Allen Everett Poet and a seven-time Woody Guthrie Poet.

In 2023 he won three poetry contests with three different poems and in 2024 he received the “Excellence in the Arts Award” from the Vietnam Veterans of America.

Singer-songwriters Graham Nash and Jimmy Webb are counted among his fans.