Michael Waters teaches at Monmouth University and in the Drew University MFA Program in Poetry and Poetry in Translation. His eight books of poems include Darling Vulgarity (2006—finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize), Parthenopi: New and Selected Poems (2001—finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize), and Green Ash, Red Maple, Black Gum (1997). The recipient of a fellowship in creative writing from the National Endowment for the Arts, Individual Artist Awards from the Maryland State Arts Council, and four Pushcart Prizes, he lives in Ocean, New Jersey with his wife, Mihaela Moscaliuc, and their son, Fabian. (Author photo by Michael Paul Thomas)
In a poetry world filled with structurally-experimental and opaque writing, Michael Waters’s voice is increasingly unique. He writes in a straight-forward, lyrically beautiful style while delving into risqué subject matter, particularly regarding sex. In Gospel Night, his tenth poetry collection, Waters tackles the dual (and dueling) natures of our humanity: sin and transgression; isolation and atrocity; love and darkness; and the desire for a language that can illuminate such ordinary yet disturbing spaces.
"Waters's elegant language suggests that there is grace to be found in facing and speaking of our sorrows. . . . His use of humor creates a tension between the profane and the sublime."
—Arts & Letters
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