Jason Shinder

Jason Shinder (1955–2008) was an American poet who authored three books and founded the YMCA National Writer's Voice. His last book, ''Stupid Hope'' (Graywolf Press, 2009), was released posthumously.

He was born in Brooklyn New York in 1955, and published his first literary work in 1993, with the release of ''Every Room We Ever Slept In,'' which became a New York Public Library Notable Book. He went on to author ''Among Women'' and ''Uncertain Hours,'' he also edited numerous anthologies, including ''The Poem That Changed America: "Howl" Fifty Years Later'' and ''The Poem I Turn To: Actors and Directors Present Poetry That Inspires Them.'' In addition to founding and directing the National Writer's Voice, Shinder also served as director of the Sundance Institute Writing Program, as a teacher in the graduate writing program at Bennington College, as a graduate teacher at New School University, and was a Poet Laureate of Provincetown. Shinder also earned a Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2007.

Shinder died in April 2008. He had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and leukemia. "Cancer is a tremendous opportunity," he said, philosophically, "to have your face pressed right up against the glass of your mortality." In his brief poem "Company," he writes:

I've been avoiding my illness

because I'm afraid

I will die and when I do,

I'll end up alone again.

Published works

Full-length Poetry Collections
* ''Stupid Hope'' (Graywolf Press, 2009)
* ''Among Women'' (Graywolf Press, 2001)
* ''Every Room We Ever Slept In''(Sheep Meadow Press, 1993)

Chapbooks
* ''Uncertain Hours'' (Arrowsmith Press, 2006)

References

External links

POEM: ''The New Yorker'' > Poetry > ''Living'' by Jason Shinder > October 1, 2007


* ttp://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15957 POEM: Academy of American Poets > Jason Shinder > ''The One Secret That Has Carried''
REVIEW: ''The Los Angeles Times'' > Book Review by David L. Ulin of ''Stupid Hope'' by Jason Shinder > August 2, 2009Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Jason Shinder papers, circa 1970-2008

1955 births
2008 deaths
Writers from New York (state)
Writers from Brooklyn
Bennington College faculty
The New School faculty
National Endowment for the Arts Fellows
The New Yorker people
20th-century American poets

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