Steve Katz (May 14, 1935 – August 4, 2019) was an American writer. He is considered an early

post-modern Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

writer for works such as '' The Exagggerations of Peter Prince'' (1968), and ''Saw'' (1972). His collection of stories, '' Creamy & Delicious'' (1970), was mentioned in

Larry McCaffery Lawrence F. McCaffery Jr. (born May 13, 1946) is an American literary critic, editor, and retired professor of English and comparative literature at San Diego State University. His work and teaching focuses on postmodern literature, contemporary ...

's list of the 100 greatest books of the 20th century where it was named "The most extreme and perfectly executed fictional work to emerge from the Pop Art scene of the late 60s."

Biography

Steve Katz was born in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

, New York City on May 14, 1935. He received his bachelor's degree at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

and his master's degree at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. He taught at the University of Maryland Overseas (Italy), Cornell University, the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the Queens Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City. It is part of the City University of New York system. Its 80-acre campus is primarily located in Flushing, Queens. It has a student body ...

, and

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campus ...

. In 1978 he became the director of the creative writing program at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sys ...

. Katz also worked as a miner, a dairy farmer, and a teacher of

tai chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and medita ...

. He received grants from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

in 1976 and 1981. In 2008, Steve Katz was a featured reader at the

&NOW Festival &Now is traveling biennial literary festival and a publishing organization, both focused on innovative literature. The festival's main emphasis is on work that blends or crosses genres and includes a wide variety of work, such as multimedia projects ...

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

. Katz's innovative fiction was often praised by reviewers, for its "blustery poetry and prose," and for striking "an amiable balance between the demands of fantasy and those of realism."

Bibliography

* ''The Lestriad'' (1962 Milella, reprint 1987

Bamberger Books Bamberger is a Bavarian language, Bavarian and Southern Germany, Southern German toponymic surname, and it indicates someone from Bamberg in Bavaria. Notable people with the surname include: * Ana Maria Bamberger (born 1966), Romanian physician and ...

) * ''The Weight of Antony'' (poetry) (1964 Eibe Press) * ''The Exagggerations of Peter Prince'' (1968

Holt, Rinehart and Winston Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools. The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the ...

) * ''Creamy & Delicious'' (short stories) (1970

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 ...

) * ''Posh'' (as Stephanie Gatos) (1971 Grove Press)
''Grassland (Hex)''
(screenplay with Leo Garen) (1972)

(1972

Knopf Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Alfred A. Knopf Sr. and Blanche Knopf in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in ...

, reprint 1998

FC2 FC2 can refer to: * FC2 (portal), an Internet content portal, frequently used by people in the Asian region * FC2: an EEG electrode site according to the 10-20 system * The nitrile version of the female condom, introduced in 2005 * Fire Controlma ...

) * ''Cheyenne River Wild Track'' (booklength poem) (1973 Ithaca House)
''Moving Parts''
(1977

Fiction Collective Fiction Collective Two (FC2) is an author-run, not-for-profit publisher of avant-garde, experimental literature, experimental fiction supported in part by the University of Utah, the University of Alabama, Central Michigan University, Illinois Sta ...

)
''Stolen Stories''
(short stories) (1984

) * ''Wier & Pouce'' (1984 Sun & Moon Press) * ''Florry Of Washington Heights'' (1987 Sun & Moon Press) * ''Journalism'' (poetry) (1990

) * ''43 Fictions'' (short stories) (1992 Sun & Moon Press) * ''Swanny's Ways (1995 Sun & Moon Press)
''Antonello's Lion''
(2005 Green Integer Books)
''Kissssssssssss''
(2007

) *"The Compleat Memoirrhoids" (2013 Starcherone Books)

Footnotes

External links

Steve Katz Papers
at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

Excerpt from ''Creamy and Delicious''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Steve 1935 births Living people American male writers Writers from the Bronx Cornell University alumni University of Oregon alumni Brooklyn College faculty