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

post-modern Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experi ...

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

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'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 the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

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

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

and his master's degree at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

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

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or 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 organized int ...

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn in New York City, United States. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls nearly 14,000 students on a campus in the Midwood and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn as of fall ...

Queens College, City University of New York Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

, and

Notre Dame University The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Catholic religious order o ...

. 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 university, public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a Federated state, state, it is the fla ...

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

tai chi is a Chinese martial art. Initially developed for combat and self-defense, for most practitioners it has evolved into a sport and form of exercise. As an exercise, tai chi is performed as gentle, low-impact movement in which practitioners ...

. 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 feder ...

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

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California, United States. Encompassing eleven colleges, the university is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity". The school maintains its foundi ...

. 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." Katz died on August 4, 2019, at the age of 84.

Bibliography

* ''The Lestriad'' (1962 Milella, reprint 1987 Bamberger Books) * ''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 ...

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

Random House Random House is an imprint and publishing group of Penguin Random House. Founded in 1927 by businessmen Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer as an imprint of Modern Library, it quickly overtook Modern Library as the parent imprint. Over the foll ...

) * ''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 Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...

, reprint 1998

FC2 FC2 can refer to: * FC2 (portal), a popular Japanese Internet content portal * FC2: an EEG electrode site according to the 10-20 system * The nitrile version of the female condom, introduced in 2005 * Fire Controlman Second Class, a rating in the ...

) * ''Cheyenne River Wild Track'' (booklength poem) (1973 Ithaca House)
''Moving Parts''
(1977 Fiction Collective)
''Stolen Stories''
(short stories) (1984 Fiction Collective) * ''Wier & Pouce'' (1984 Sun & Moon Press) * ''Florry Of Washington Heights'' (1987 Sun & Moon Press) * ''Journalism'' (poetry) (1990 Bamberger Books) * ''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, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, 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 ...

Excerpt from ''Creamy and Delicious''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Katz, Steve 1935 births American male writers Writers from the Bronx Cornell University alumni University of Oregon alumni Brooklyn College faculty 2019 deaths