Aaron Belz (born September 27, 1971) is an American writer and poet.

Early life and education

Belz grew up in Kirkwood, Missouri and attended schools including Westminster Christian Academy,

the Stony Brook School The Stony Brook School is a 7–12 private, Christian, co-educational, college-preparatory boarding and day school in Stony Brook, New York, United States. It was established in 1922 by John Fleming Carson and fellow members of the Stony Brook ...

and Framlingham College. He was awarded a Maclellan Foundation Scholarship to attend Covenant College in Georgia in 1990, and graduated with a double major in English and History in 1993. Belz was enrolled in the Creative Writing program at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. In 2007, he received a Ph.D. in English at

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

Career

In 2003 Belz founded ''Observable Readings'', a poetry series and imprint in St. Louis. Belz published his first book of poetry, ''The Bird Hoverer'', in 2007. He then began teaching English and Creative Writing at

Fontbonne University Fontbonne University is a private Roman Catholic university in Clayton, Missouri. It enrolled 955 students in 2021. Fontbonne is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and it offers undergraduate, master's, and doctoral degree programs. It ...

, and later at

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

, and Providence Christian College. He published a second book, ''Lovely, Raspberry: Poems'', in 2010. In 2013, he received media attention for a Craigslist ad he placed to sell custom poems. In 2013, Belz performed readings at Comedy Meltdown. That same year he opened up Hillsborough Bicycle, a bicycle repair shop, with his son Eli in Hillsborough, North Carolina. In 2014 Belz was teaching English at

Durham Technical Community College Durham Technical Community College (Durham Tech) is a public community college in Durham, North Carolina. The college serves Northern Durham County at its Northern Durham Center, and in Orange County at its Orange County Campus completed in 20 ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

and published his third book, ''Glitter Bomb: Poems''. Belz's poetry has appeared in ''Fence'', ''Exquisite Corpse'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', and his essays and reviews have appeared in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'' and the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

''.

Bibliography

* ''The Bird Hoverer'', BlazeVOX Books, 2007. * ''Lovely, Raspberry: Poems'', Persea, 2010. * ''Glitter Bomb: Poems'', Persea, 2014. * ''Soft Launch: Poems'', Persea, 2019.

References

External links

Official website

Poems

''University of Iowa Press'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Belz, Aaron 1971 births Living people American male poets Writers from St. Louis The Stony Brook School alumni Covenant College alumni Saint Louis University alumni 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers Poets from Missouri