Michael Castro (1945–2018) was a poet and translator. In 2015 Castro was named the first Poet Laureate of St. Louis. He was a founder of the literary journal ''

River Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the mothe ...

''.

Early life

Castro was born in 1945 in New York to

Greek Jewish The history of the Jews in Greece can be traced back to at least the fourth century BCE. The oldest and the most characteristic Jewish group that has inhabited Greece are the Romaniotes, also known as "Greek Jews." The term "Greek Jew" is p ...

parents before moving to St. Louis to attend Washington University.

Career

Castro established the journal ''River Styx'' in 1975. He worked with Gabor G. Gyukics in translating poems from Hungarian to English. Castro taught at

University of Missouri–St. Louis The University of Missouri–St. Louis (UMSL) is a Public university, public research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Established in 1963, it is the newest of the four universities in the University of Missouri System. Located ...

, and then

Lindenwood University Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Charles, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1832 by George Champlin Sibley and Mary Easton Sibley as The Lindenwood School for Girls, it is the second-oldest higher-education institution wes ...

until his retirement to professor emeritus in 2012. In 2015, he was appointed the Poet Laureate of St. Louis. As part of his laureateship, he organized an art collective, Unity Community.

References

External links

STL aldermen appoint Michael Castro city's first poet laureate
''

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 ...

'', December 12, 2014.
Poet Laureate Nominee Michael Castro Says Words Can Help Heal St. Louis
St. Louis Public Radio, December 10, 2014. 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Poets from New York (state) American people of Greek-Jewish descent Jewish American poets 2018 deaths 1945 births 21st-century American Jews {{US-poet-1940s-stub