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

Early life and education

Belz grew up in

Kirkwood, Missouri Kirkwood is an inner-ring suburb of St. Louis located in western St. Louis County, Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 29,461. Founded in 1853, the city is named after James P. Kirkwood, chief engineer of the Pacific Railr ...

and attended schools including Westminster Christian Academy,

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

and

Framlingham College Framlingham College is a public school ( boarding and day school) in the town of Framlingham, near Woodbridge, Suffolk, England. Together with its preparatory school and nursery at Brandeston Hall, it serves pupils from 3 to 18 years of age ...

. He was awarded a Maclellan Foundation Scholarship to attend Covenant College in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

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 university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

'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 university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

Career

In 2003 Belz founded ''Observable Readings'', a poetry series and imprint in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. 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 Catholic university in Clayton, Missouri, United States. Fontbonne University, established in 1923 as Fontbonne College, initially served as a women's college. Fontbonne College became co-educational in the 197 ...

, and later at

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. Located within the Metro East of Greater St. Louis, SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Ca ...

, and

Providence Christian College Providence Christian College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Pasadena, California, United States. Founded in 2002, it is an independent, confessionally Reformed college with no formal denominational ties. The college offers one de ...

. He published a second book, ''Lovely, Raspberry: Poems'', in 2010. In 2013, he received media attention for a

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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 2 ...

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 based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' and ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

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

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', 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. ...

'' and the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a 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-Democra ...

''.

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