Ben W. Howard (born 1944 in

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

Ben Howard, Emeritus Professor of English at Alfred University
/ref>), Emeritus Professor of English at Alfred University, is an American poet, essayist, scholar, and critic. He is the author of twelve books, including three collections of essays on Zen practice, six collections of poems, a verse novella, and a critical study of

modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Insular Celtic branch of the Celtic language family, which is a part of the Indo-European language family. Irish is indigenous to the island of Ireland and was the ...

writing. From 1973-2000, he served as a regular reviewer for ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

''. Over the past four decades, he has contributed more than 250 poems, essays, and reviews to leading journals in North America and abroad, including ''

'', '' Shenandoah'', ''

Poetry Ireland Review ''Poetry Ireland Review'' is a journal of Irish poetry published three times a year by Poetry Ireland, the national Irish poetry organisation. ''Poetry Ireland Review'' publishes the work of both emerging and established Irish and international ...

'', ''Agenda'', and the ''

Sewanee Review ''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It publishes original fiction and poetry, essays, reviews, and literary criticism. History ''Th ...

''. Until his retirement in 2006, he taught courses in literature and writing and an Honors course in

Buddhist meditation Buddhist meditation is the practice of meditation in Buddhism. The closest words for meditation in the classical languages of Buddhism are '' bhāvanā'' ("mental development") and '' jhāna/dhyāna'' (mental training resulting in a calm and ...

at Alfred University. He also taught classical guitar and often performed in faculty recitals. From 1998 to 2022 he led th
Falling Leaf Sangha
a Rinzai

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

practice group in Alfred, New York. For the past decade he has also offered guest lectures and conducted meditative retreats at the Olean Meditation Center in Olean, New York
"One Time, One Meeting,"
his monthly column, explores aspects of Zen practice.

Bibliography

Books * ''The Absolute Moment: Essays on Western Zen,'' Jericho Hill Publishing, 2023 * ''Immovable Awareness: The Intimate Practice of Zen,'' Whitlock Publishing, 2016 * ''Firewood and Ashes: New and Selected Poems,'' Salmon Poetry, 2015 * ''The Backward Step: Essays on Zen Practice'', Whitlock Publishing, 2014 * ''Entering Zen'', Whitlock Publishing, 2011 * ''Leaf, Sunlight, Asphalt'', Salmon Publishing,2009 * ''Dark Pool'',

Salmon Publishing Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus ''Oncorhynchus' ...

, 2004 * ''Midcentury'', Salmon Publishing, 1997 * ''The Pressed Melodeon'': Essays on Modern Irish Writing,

Story Line Press Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

, 1996 * ''Lenten Anniversaries: Poems 1982–1989'', Cummington Press,1990 * ''Northern Interior: Poems 1975–1982'', Cummington Press, 1986 * ''Father of Waters: Poems 1965–1976'', University of Nebraska: Abattoir Editions, 1979 Inclusion in anthologies **''Open-Eyed, Full-Throated: An Anthology of American / Irish Poets'', Arlen House, 2019 **''If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song'', Dedalus Press, 2014 **''The Book of Irish American Poetry'', University of Notre Dame Press, 2007 **''180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every D''ay,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, 2005 **''The POETRY Anthology: 1912–2002'', Ivan R. Dee, 2002 **''A Green Place:Modern Poems'', Delacorte, 1982. **''The POETRY Anthology: 1912–1977'', Houghton Mifflin, 1978 **''Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Form'', Longman, 1997

Reviews

About ''The Backward Step,'' Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot of the Upaya Center, has written: "Wise and true, this wonderful book transmits the essence of practice realization." Reviewing ''Firewood and Ashes: New and Selected Poems'' in ''Poetry Northwest'' (December 17, 2015), Adam Tavel observes that this collection "displays the poet's lyrical sonorousness, formal mastery, and spiritual inquisitiveness ... His poems are notable and noble in their craft, heart, and panoramic gaze. For a half-century now, he has written poems with one foot in the Romantic tradition and the other firmly planted in our modern predicament ... One hopes this representative gathering of poems old and recent will allow a new generation of readers to discover Ben Howard's lush wisdom—a wisdom rooted in the poetic tradition and attuned to our fraught young century." In his review of ''Leaf, Sunlight, Asphalt'', Howard's fifth collection of poems, Ray Olson observes that the author "manages iambs as well as anyone since Christopher Marlowe ... Few other contemporary poets make ordinary living seem as rich and rewarding." (''Booklist'', 35, January 1 & 15, 2010). Reviewing ''Dark Pool'', Howard's fifth collection of poems, for ''Booklist'', Ray Olson notes that Howard "writes just about the most natural, musical iambic line around these days, primarily in a propulsive, precise, and vocal blank verse but also in sonnets, quatrains, and unrhymed forms. It's as seductive of the inner ear as Irish storytelling is of the outer, gently drawing attention to large, subtle meanings." Reviewing ''Midcentury'' for ''Irish Echo'', Michael Stephens remarks that Howard's verse is "elegant, elegiac, casual yet moving," and he likens the structure of the book to "a great symphony, the kind that, moment to moment, is intimate, and yet its overall reach is almost beyond human grasp."

Awards

* NEA Fellowship in Creative Writing * Milton Dorfman Prize in Poetry * Theodore Christian Hoepfner Award

References

External links

* http://www.howardbw.com Ben Howard's website
Alfred University : College of Liberal Arts and Sciences : Performing Arts : Faculty Profiles : Ben Howard

National Resources Defense Council Podcast of Ben Howard reading his poem "Irondequoit, Oswego, Canisteo"
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120405070839/http://preview.poetryfoundation.org/search/?q=ben+howard * http://www.poetrynw.org/adam-tavel-let-those-sparks-arise/ * http://www.practiceofzen.com One Time, One Meeting {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Ben 1944 births American essayists American male poets Alfred University faculty American literary critics Living people American male essayists