Steve Kowit

by George J. Dance

Steve Kowit. Courtesy East County Magazine.

Steve Kowit (June 30, 1938 - April 2, 2015) was an American poet and academic.

Life

Kowit was born in Brooklyn, New York. After a stint in the Army Reserve, he earned a B.A. from Brooklyn College.

At 27 he moved to San Francisco, spending time with the Beats in the Haight-Ashbury district, and earning an M.A. at San Francisco State College at age 30. He later earned a M.F.A. from Warren Wilson College.

Steve Kowit (1938-2015). Courtesy Southwestern College Sun.

He refused Army induction during the Vietnam War, living in Mexico, Central America, and South America with his wife, Mary. After the war he returned to the United States and lived in San Diego, where he began to teach at San Diego State University and the University of California, San Diego.

He founded San Diego's earliest animal rights organization, the Animal Rights Coalition of California. He was also the founder of Gorilla Press.

He taught at colleges in Florida, Maryland, Idaho, and California, eventually retiring from Southwestern College in Chula Vista, California.

At his death the Los Angeles Times said of him: "As a poet, essayist, teacher and self-described 'all-around no good troublemaker,' Kowit was never dull. In a dozen volumes of poetry, his enthusiasm burst off the page in language that was direct, accessible and devoid of the ambiguity favored by some literary critics."

He was a noted poetry performer. ""He could have been an actor," said poet Austin Straus; "when he was onstage he was mesmerizing."

He died at his home in Potrero, California, of cardiac arrest at age 76.

Writing

Kowit's models included Walt Whitman, Robinson Jeffers and Allen Ginsberg. In an essay titled "The Mystique of the Difficult Poem," he admitted that, try as he might, he could not fathom poems, such as those of Hart Crane, that were "filled with footnotable literary allusions and hopelessly gnarled syntax and untrackable metaphoric acrobatics."

His writings sometimes encompassed social justice issues, from the journey of immigrants crossing his own property near the Mexican border to turmoil in the Middle East.

Recognition

Recognition for his work includes a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and two Pushcart Prizes.

He won the Atlanta Review Poetry Prize, the Ouroboros Book Award, the 2006 Tampa Review Poetry Prize, and most recently the San Diego Theodore Geisel Award. His poetry collection, The Dumbbell Nebula, was a San Francisco Chronicle Notable Book of the Year.

Publications

• The Dirty Old Man's Guide to Young Girls: Being the lurid confessions of Steve Kowit. Miami Beach, FL: Degenerate, [197-?]
• Heart in Utter Confusion: Takes on the erotic poetry of India (illutrated by Richard Denner). Hulls Cove, ME: Dog Ear Press, 1982.
• Cutting Our Losses: Poems (illutrated by Lois Griffith). New York : Contact II Publications, 1982.
• Lurid Confessions. Pomeroy, OH: Carpenter Press, 1983.
• Passionate Journey: Poems and drawings in the erotic mood. Berkeley, CA: City Miner Books, 1984.
• Everything is Okay (illutrated by M. Jeanne Willoughby). San Diego, CA: Gorilla Press, 1985.
• Pranks (illustrated by Lenny Silverberg). Stout, OH: Bloddy Twin Press, 1990.
• Mysteries of the Body: Poems. Houston, TX: Uroboros Books, 1994.
• For My Birthday. San Diego, CA: Caernarvon Press, 1997.
• The Dumbbell Nebula. Berkeley, CA: Roundhouse Press, 2000.
• Greatest Hits, 1978-2003. Columbus, OH: Pudding House, 2004.
• Crossing Borders: Poems (illustrated by Lenny Silverberg). New York: Spuyten Devil, 2010.
• Cherished: New and selected poems. Tampa, FL: University of Tampa Press, 2015.

Non-fiction

• In the Palm of your Hand: A poet's portable workshop: A lively and illuminating guide for the practicing poet. Gardiner, ME: Tilbury House, 1995.

Translated

• Pablo Neruda, Incitement to Nixonicide and Praise for the Chilean Revolution. Madison, 1973.

Edited

• The Maverick Poets: An anthology. Santee, CA: Gorilla Press, 1988.

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

Audio / video

Steve Kowit Reads His Poem, "Basic"

• Steve Kowit reading in the UCSD New Poetry Series, Wednesday, Nov. 7, 1979 (tape). [1979?]
• Steve Kowit and Karen Lawrence reading at UCSD, 1/25/84 (cassette). [1984?]
• In the Palm of your Hand: A poet's portable workshop: A lively and illuminating guide for the practicing poet (CD). Princeton, NJ: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, 2007.

Except where noted, discographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• Beat poets
• List of U.S. poets

External links

Poems

• "I Attend a Poetry Reading"
• "Last Will" at San Diego Free Press
• Steve Kowit at Poetry 180: "Some Clouds," "The Grammar Lesson," "Notice"
• Poems

Prose

• Essays

Audio / video

• Steve Kowit at YouTube

Books

• Steve Kowit at Amazon.com

About

• Steve Kowit obituary, San Diego Union-Tribune
• Passages: Acclaimed poet Steve Kowit, East County Magazine
• Steve Kowit dies at 76: San Diego poet championed numerous causes, Los Angeles Times
• Steve Kowit (1938-2015): Brilliant poet was revered professor, Southwestern College Sun
• Steve Kowit Obituary at Jewish Voice for Peace
• Steve Kowit (1938-2015) by Bill Mohr
• Steve Kowit Official website

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