Richard Newman (poet)

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Richard Newman (born March 25, 1966) is an American poet and former long-time editor of River Styx. [1] He is the author of three full-length poetry collections--All the Wasted Beauty of the World (Able Muse, 2014), Domestic Fugues (Steel Toe Books, 2009), and Borrowed Towns (Word Press, 2005)--and one novel, Graveyard of the Gods (Amphorae Press, 2016). [2] [3]

Contents

Biography

Born in Illinois and raised in southern Indiana, Richard Newman was a longtime resident of St. Louis. He has lived in The Marshall Islands, Japan, and Vietnam and currently lives in Ifrane, Morocco. He is the author of the poetry collections Blues at the End of the World (Kelsay Books, 2024), [4] All the Wasted Beauty of the World (Able Muse, 2014), [5] Domestic Fugues (Steel Toe Books, 2009), [6] and Borrowed Towns (Word Press, 2005); [7] the novel Graveyard of the Gods (Amphorae Press, 2016); and four poetry chapbooks: 24 Tall Boys: Dark Verse for Light Times (Snark Publishing/Firecracker Press, 2007), Monster Gallery: 19 Terrifying and Amazing Monster Sonnets! (Snark Publishing, 2005), Tastes Like Chicken and Other Meditations (Snark Publishing, 2004), and Greatest Hits (Pudding House Press, 2001). He is also an acclaimed songwriter. [8] [9]

His work has appeared in Best American Poetry 2006 [10] (edited by Billy Collins), Ted Kooser's American Life in Poetry, [11] Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac , [12] Boulevard, Crab Orchard Review, The Ledge (as winner of The Ledge 2010 Poetry Competition), New Letters, (where he won the 2006 Reader's Choice Award), [13] Poetry Daily, Rattle, [14] The Sun, Tar River Poetry, Verse Daily, [15] [16] [17] and many other periodicals and anthologies. He was awarded a Regional Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in 2013. [18]

His plays have been produced in several theater festivals, including Mouths of Babes Theater Scotopia Festival in Wilmington; [19] North Park Playwright Festival in San Diego; [20] and Spectrum First Run Theater in St. Louis. [21] They have also appeared in Poems & Plays, The Louisville Review, and The Hooghly Review. [22]

Newman earned his MFA at the Brief-Residency Writing Program at Spalding University. He has taught at Washington University in St. Louis, UMSL Honors College, and College of Marshall Islands. [23] He currently teaches creative writing and world literature at Al Akhawayn University in Morocco. [24]

Newman served as editor of River Styx from 1994 to 2016. [25] He is a member of The CharFlies, [26] a junk-folk band based in St. Louis, Missouri. The band is on temporary hiatus.

Excerpt from Borrowed Towns

Coins

My change: a nickel caked with finger grime;
two nicked quarters not long for this life, worth
more for keeping dead eyes shut than bus fare;
a dime, shining in sunshine like a new dime;
grubby pennies, one stamped the year of my birth,
no brighter than I from 40 years of wear.
What purses, piggy-banks, and window sills
have these coins known, their presidential heads
pinched into what beggar's chalky palm--
they circulate like tarnished red blood cells,
all of us exchanging the merest film
of our lives, and the lives of those long dead.
And now my turn in the convenience store,
I hand over my fist of change, still warm,
to the bored, lip-pierced check-out girl, once more
to be spun down cigarette machines, hurled
in fountains, flipped for luck--these dirty charms
chiming in the dark pockets of the world.

References

  1. ↑ "Home". riverstyx.org.
  2. ↑ "Graveyard of the Gods". Amphorae Publishing Group. 2016-10-23. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  3. ↑ "Eye on the Indies: Graveyard of the Gods". WTP Central. 2017-03-14. Archived from the original on 2018-08-08. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  4. ↑ "Blues at the End of the World". Kelsay Books. Kelsay Books. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  5. ↑ "All the Wasted Beauty of the World - Poems | Able Muse Press".
  6. ↑ "A Formal Party". – Contemporary Poetry Review
  7. ↑ "Vacuum Packed - Richard Newman - ansas City Star article". www.vacuumpacked.net. Archived from the original on 2006-08-22.
  8. ↑ "FINALISTS - Great American Song Contest". www.greatamericansong.com. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  9. ↑ "Songwriters Association of Washington - 2015 Results". www.saw.org. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
  10. ↑ "The Best American Poetry 2006, Guest Edited by Billy Collins".
  11. ↑ "American Life in Poetry".
  12. ↑ "The Writer's Almanac: Richard Newman". writersalmanac.publicradio.org. Retrieved 2025-05-19.
  13. ↑ "Vol. 72 nos. 3 & 4 – New Letters".
  14. ↑ Newman, Richard. "Petite Chanson de Démence". Rattle. Rattle Foundation. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  15. ↑ "Plane Full of Soldiers * by Richard Newman".
  16. ↑ "Verse Daily: Bless Their Hearts by Richard Newman".
  17. ↑ "Verse Daily: Home by Richard Newman".
  18. ↑ "Ten St. Louis-area Artists Awarded $20,000 RAC Fellowships | STLPR". STLPR. 12 December 2013.
  19. ↑ Staton, John. "From politics to AI, a Wilmington short play festival takes on challenging subjects". StarNews Online. Wilmington StarNews. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  20. ↑ Newman, Richard. "The Play's the Thing: On Becoming an Inadvertent Playwright". St Louis Magazine. SLM Media Group. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  21. ↑ "Past Seasons". First Run Theatre. First Run Theatre. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  22. ↑ "Issue 4 (April 2025)". The Hooghly Review. The Hooghly Review. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  23. ↑ "Navigators creating, sharing art - The Marshall Islands Journal". The Marshall Islands Journal. 2018-02-01. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  24. ↑ "Course Information - Main View | Course Information | ENG 2320 02 - Creative Writing | Portal".
  25. ↑ "After 22 years, Richard Newman is leaving River Styx | Book Blog | stltoday.com". 28 June 2016.
  26. ↑ Music, RFT. "Americana: Meet the 2015 RFT Music Award Nominees". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
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