Stephen Motika (born 1977 in
Santa Monica, CA
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
) is an
American poet
The poets listed below were either born in the United States or else published much of their poetry while living in that country.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I–J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
*George Quasha (born 1942 in poetry, 1942)
R
...
,
editor
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...
, and
publisher
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
.
Life and work
As of 2024, Motika is the director and publisher of
Nightboat Books
Nightboat Books is an American nonprofit literary press founded in 2004 and located in Brooklyn, New York. The press publishes poetry, fiction, essays, translations, and intergenre books.
History
The press was founded in 2004 by Kazim Ali and ...
, a literary non-profit publisher based in
Brooklyn, NY
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
.
Previously, he worked at
Poets House
Poets House is a national literary center and poetry library based in New York City, United States. It contains more than 80,000 volumes of poetry, and is free and open to the public. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, in November 2020, operations ...
in New York City from 2004 to 2017,
where he was their Program Director.
Motika’s first book of poems, ''Western Practice'', was published by
Alice James Books
Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in New Gloucester, Maine.
History and mission
"Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA in 1973 by five women and two men: ...
in April 2012.
He is also the author of three poetry chapbooks: ''Arrival and At Mono'' (2007) and ''In the Madrones'' (2011) both published by Sona Books; and ''Private Archive'' (2016). Motika's work has appeared, amongst other places, in ''The National Post of Canada'', ''
Another Chicago Magazine
''Another Chicago Magazine'' is an American magazine established by Left Field Press, in 1977. Contributors include David Sedaris, Charles Bukowski, Samantha Irby, Ander Monson, Shelley Jackson, Charles Harper Webb, Maxine Chernoff, Kim Ad ...
'', and ''
The Common Review
''The Common Review'' was the literary magazine of the Great Books Foundation.
History and profile
''The Common Review'' was started as a quarterly publication in Fall 2001. The founder was the former Great Books Foundation president Peter Teme ...
''.
Motika is the editor of
Leland Hickman's ''Tiresias: The Collected Poems of Leland Hickman'' (2009) and, in 2017, he co-edited the book ''Dear Kathleen: On the Occasion of Kathleen Fraser’s 80th Birthday''.
''The Field'', his collaboration with visual artist Dianna Frid, was on view at
Gallery 400 at the
University of Illinois, Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the Universi ...
, in December 2003.
Motika has also worked as an educator and instructor at
Naropa University
Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named after the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university ...
and in the Stonecoast MFA Program at the
University of Southern Maine
The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...
.
References
External links
Nightboat Books Publisher's homepage
features photos and information from Motika's collaboration with Dianna Frid.
1977 births
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American poets
American book publishers (people)
American male poets
Living people
Vassar College alumni
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