Native New Yorker Steve Kowit, born in Brooklyn in 1938, moved to San Diego over
twenty-five years ago, where he teaches at Southwestern College and regularly tours
with his popular poetry workshops. Kowit earned his B.A. from Brooklyn College, his
M.A. from San Francisco State College, and his M.F.A. in writing from Warren Wilson
College. In addition to authoring five books of his own poetry, Kowit has edited a
poetry anthology, The Maverick Poets; written several works on the subject of writing
poetry, including the highly praised In the Palm Of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable
Workshop; and has penned numerous articles appearing in a wide range of respected
journals.
Kowit is distinguished by his many awards for poetry, some of which include the
National Endowment Fellowship in Poetry, two Pushcart Prizes, the Atlanta Review
Poetry Prize, the Oroborus Book Award, and most recently in 2006 the Tampa Review
Poetry Prize. His collection of poems, The Dumbbell Nebula, received the San Francisco
Chronicle's Notable Book of the Year, and his most recent book of poems, Gods of
Rapture, is attracting rapt attention and praise from reviewers.
Influenced by 19th century American poets Walt Whitman and Hart Crane, as well as
20th century poets like Alan Ginsburg and Jorie Graham, Kowit's writing possesses an
unabashed social consciousness. Raised in a large Zionist family in Brooklyn, New
York, his writing is at once intensely spiritual as it is polemical--aptly captured in
poems like "Intifada" and in articles such as that published recently in Skeptic
magazine, examining genocidal colonialism and the South Africa Xhosa mass "suicide."
Novelist Duff Brenna calls Steve Kowit “a major figure in poetry in America today. He
is also the best lecturer and commentator on the craft of creative writing that I’ve
ever seen in action.” Poet Thomas Lux states, "I love Kowit's poems—he has more
energy, more passion, more fire and more humor in his left little fingernail than most
poets have in their whole bodies." Perigree: Publication For the Arts heralds Kowit for
his Tampa Review Poetry Prize, "His spirit, intelligence, and humanity never cease to
amaze us. Not to mention his particular talent for poetry which is both profound and
accessible."
We're thrilled to have Steve Kowit join us for the 2007 Literary Arts Festival at
Grossmont College!
Bibliography
In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop
The Dumbbell Nebula (California Poetry Series, volume 3)
Gods of Rapture: Poems in the Erotic Mood
Epic Journeys - Unbelievable Escapes
Lurid Confessions
Passionate Journey: Poems & Drawings in the Erotic Mood (co-author, Arthur
Okamura)
Heart in Utter Confusion: Takes on the Erotic Poetry of India
On-Line Resources
(links will open a new browser window)
Poems
"I Rendezvous with Jim & Lenny at the Barnes"
Articles and Reviews
"The Mystique of the Difficult Poem" Poetry International III
"The Way The World Is Now" Pedestal Magazine
"Charles Manekin and Steve Kowit Weigh-in on the Cohen-Chomsky Debate" Palestine
"Apologies to the Cockroaches" Perigee: Publication for the Arts
"A Process For Germinating Poems Of Social Consciousness" Vert Poetry Magazine
"Steve Kowit, In the Palm of Your Hand" (book review by Audrey M. Clark)