William Kilborn Knott (17 February 1940– 12 March 2014) was an American poet. Born in Carson City, Michigan, US, Knott received his MFA from Norwich University and studied with John Logan in Chicago. His first collection of poems, The Naomi Poems: Corpse and Beans, was published in 1968 under the name Saint Geraud, a fictional persona whose backstory included a suicide two years prior to the publishing. The Naomi Poems was well received and brought him to the attention of such poets as James Wright, who called him an “unmistakable genius.”
William Kilborn Knott (17 February 1940– 12 March 2014) was an American poet. Born in Carson City, Michigan, US, Knott received his MFA from Norwich University and studied with John Logan in Chicago. His first collection of poems, The Naomi Poems: Corpse and Beans, was published in 1968 under the name Saint Geraud, a fictional persona whose backstory included a suicide two years prior to the publishing. The Naomi Poems was well received and brought him to the attention of such poets as James Wright, who called him an “unmistakable genius.”