Aaron Shurin (born 1947) is an

American poet The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country. A B C D E F G H I–J K L M N O P Q *George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942) R ...

essayist An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

, and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

. He is the former director of the

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...

in Writing Program at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, where he is now Professor Emeritus.

Life and work

Aaron Shurin received his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

Poetics Poetics is the theory of structure, form, and discourse within literature, and, in particular, within poetry. History The term ''poetics'' derives from the Ancient Greek ποιητικός ''poietikos'' "pertaining to poetry"; also "creative" an ...

from

New College of California New College of California was a college founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President John Leary. It ceased operations in early 2008. New College's main campus was housed in several buildings in the Mission ...

, where he studied under poet Robert Duncan. He is a recipient of California Arts Council Literary Fellowships in poetry (1989, 2002), and a NEA fellowship in creative nonfiction (1995). Shurin is the former Associate Director of the ''Poetry Center & American Poetry Archives'' at San Francisco State University and the author of numerous books of poetry, including: ''Into Distances'' (1993), ''The Paradise of Forms: Selected Poems'' (1999), ''A Door'' (2000), ''Involuntary Lyrics'' (2005), '' Citizen'' (2011); and volumes of prose, including ''Unbound: A Book of

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

'' (1997),
The Skin of Meaning: Collected Literary Essays and Talks
' (University of Michigan Press, 2016), and ''King of Shadows'' (2008), a collection of essays. Shurin has taught extensively in the fields of American poetry and poetics, contemporary and classical prosody, improvisational techniques in composition, and the personal essay. According to his biography at the University of San Francisco, his own work is framed by the innovative traditions in lyric poetry as they extend the central purpose of the Romantic Imagination: to attend the world in its particularities, body and soul.

Poetics

Shurin's poetics might be described as a poetics of the voice in the tradition of

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among t ...

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massach ...

and of those who followed. Writes Shurin: Following upon Whitman and Dickinson, Shurin acknowledges a multiplicity of influences on his sense of a poetics:

Bibliography

* ''Woman on Fire''. Rose Deeprose Press, 1975. * ''The Night Sun''. Gay Sunshine Press, 1976. * ''Giving Up The Ghost''. Rose Deeprose Press, 1980. * ''The Graces''. Four Seasons Foundation, 1983. * ''A's Dream''. O Books, 1989. * ''Into Distances''. Sun & Moon Press, 1993. * ''Unbound: A Book of AIDS''. Sun & Moon Press, 1997. * ''The Paradise of Forms: Selected Poems''. Talisman House, 1999. * ''A Door''. Talisman House, 2000. * ''Narrativity''. Sun & Moon Press, 2001. * ''Involuntary Lyrics''. Omnidawn, 2005. * ''King of Shadows''. City Lights Publishers, 2008. * ''Citizen''. City Lights Publishers, 2011. * ''The Skin of Meaning: Collected Literary Essays and Talks''. University of Michigan Press, 2016. * ''Flowers & Sky: Two Talks''. Entre Rios Books, 2017. * ''The Blue Absolute''. Nightboat Books, 2020 (forthcoming).

References

External links

What is American About American Poetry?
essay by Shurin at the ''Poetry Society of America'' website
''Three Scenes from the Sauna at the YMCA''
a prose poetry piece by Shurin (2002) at '' Lodestar Quarterly''
''Narrativity''
This essay was first delivered by Shruin as a talk at '' Painted Bride'', Philadelphia, June 1989.
''Unbound: A book of AIDS''
a selection from this book on-line

Jeffrey Jullich on Aaron Shurin

at ''Electronic Poetry Review''

by Steve Silberman at ''

Poetry Flash ''Poetry Flash'' (founded 1972) is a literary magazine and website based in the San Francisco Bay Area; it has been called "an institution in the Bay Area's literary culture". It publishes literary reviews, poetry, interviews, and essays as well as ...

'', January 1990. Link includes an excerpt from ''A's Dream''

a review by Mark Mardon of Aaron Shurin’s 'Involuntary Lyrics,' originally published in the Bay Area Reporter.'
"''The very first page is so strong it nearly took my head off...''"

Ron Silliman Ron Silliman (born August 5, 1946) is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wr ...

on ''Involuntary Lyrics'' * – this page is a

smörgåsbord Smörgåsbord () is a buffet-style meal of Swedish origin. It is served with various hot and cold dishes. Smörgåsbord became internationally known at the 1939 New York World's Fair when it was offered at the Swedish Pavilion "Three Crowns ...

of links to Shurin readings from his work, including an interview with Shurin by Stacey Lewis in mp3 format, along with capsule reviews and comments about Shurin's work {{DEFAULTSORT:Shurin, Aaron Living people American male poets Writers from San Francisco New College of California alumni University of San Francisco faculty American LGBT poets 1947 births American gay writers 21st-century LGBT people