Tyler Knott Gregson

Last updated

Tyler Knott Gregson
Tyler Knott Gregson.jpg
Born (1981-07-06) July 6, 1981 (age 43)
Newport News, Virginia, United States
OccupationPoet, author, photographer
Alma mater University of Montana
Notable worksChasers of the Light, All The Words Are Yours, Wildly into The Dark, North Pole Ninjas, Miracle in the Mundane, Illumination
SpouseSarah Linden Gregson
Website
tylerknott.com

Tyler Knott Gregson is a poet, author, essayist, and professional photographer based in Helena, Montana. [1] [2] Gregson has accrued fame as a poet on social media platforms such as Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter since 2009. He writes and posts a bi-weekly newsletter, Signal Fire, filled with essays, poetry, and photography, and continues to publish poetry anthologies. [3]

Contents

Background

Gregson studied sociology and criminology at the University of Montana. He worked as a freelance writer for various companies, and began blogging on his own in 2009. He says he has written poetry since being in middle school.

Typewriter Series and career

The "Typewriter Series" was born in 2012 when Gregson found an old typewriter in a Helena antique store and typed out a poem spontaneously. He said, "I just did it all at once and it was like stream of consciousness, I didn't plan it or think it through—I just let it go." The poet now challenges himself to post one of these every single day. [3]

Gregson's main incentive for writing is to express that poetry is not dead and is something to be valued. [4] Writing about various themes like love, hope, sadness, and wanderlust, has enabled his readers to relate their own experiences to his words. Gregson has enticed readers by inspiring them to view the world in a different light. To continue making a difference with his writing, Gregson donated $2 of the sales for every pre-ordered book of Chasers of the Light to the To Write Love on Her Arms (TWLOHA) suicide prevention organization. [4] The author has ranked a huge social media following, consisting of 328,000 followers on Tumblr and 357,000 on Instagram [5] These followers are rapidly increasing as fellow celebrities have noticed his work and are mentioning him to their own followers. Singer-songwriter Christina Perri has encouraged fans to check out Gregson's work which has provided him more exposure in the social media realm. [6]

He also works as a professional wedding photographer photographing all around the world at a company he co-founded with his wife, Sarah Linden Gregson, Chasers of the Light. [7]

He is Buddhist. [8]

He proudly lives on the Autism Spectrum, and has a podcast about life with Autism Spectrum Disorder with friend and Welsh poet, Ash Raymond James, called Somewhere On The Spectrum.

Publishes a bi-weekly newsletter, Signal Fire, filled with essays on life, love, activism, autism, poetry, and all the rest.

Publications

Mr. Gregson's first poetry book, “Chasers of the Light,” became a national bestseller with more than 120,000 copies in print. [9] Perigee, a division of Penguin Random House, picked up Gregson's "Typewriter series" and published selected poems from it into a compilation called Chasers of the Light in 2014. The collection of poetry was a top 10 bestseller of non-fiction within its second week of publication, according to the Wall Street Journal . [10]

On October 20, 2015 Gregson came out with a collection of haiku on love, entitled All the Words Are Yours. [11]

On March 28, 2017, Gregson published his third collection of poetry, Wildly into the Dark: Typewriter Poems and the Rattlings of a Curious Mind. [12]

He is also the co-author along with Sarah Linden Gregson in the publication of the Children's book, North Pole Ninjas: Mission: Christmas!, which was published on October 18, 2016. [13]

On March 5, 2019, Gregson published his fifth book, a self-help and poetry life reboot book, Miracle in the Mundane: Poems, Prompts, and Inspiration to Unlock Your Creativity and Unfiltered Joy. [14]

On March 30, 2020, Gregson published his sixth book, a poetry and photography book on light and endurance, Illumination: Poetry to Light Up The Darkness. [15]

Bibliography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Armitage</span> English poet (born 1963)

Simon Robert Armitage is an English poet, playwright, musician and novelist. He was appointed Poet Laureate on 10 May 2019. He is professor of poetry at the University of Leeds.

Eamon JR Grennan is an Irish poet born in Dublin, Ireland. He attended University College Dublin where he completed a BA 1963 and an MA 1964. He has lived in the United States, except for brief periods, since 1964. He was the Dexter M. Ferry Jr. Professor of English at Vassar College until his retirement in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emanuel Xavier</span> American poet

Emanuel Xavier, is an American poet, spoken word artist, author, editor, screenwriter, and LGBTQ activist born and raised in the Bushwick area of Brooklyn. Associated with the East Village, Manhattan arts scene in New York City, he emerged from the ball culture scene to become one of the first openly gay poets from the Nuyorican movement as a successful writer and advocate for gay youth programs and Latino gay literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Crummey</span> Canadian poet and writer

Michael Crummey is a Canadian poet and a writer of historical fiction. His writing often draws on the history and landscape of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Robin Robertson is a Scottish poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aram Saroyan</span> American poet

Aram Saroyan is an American poet, novelist, biographer, memoirist and playwright, who is especially known for his minimalist poetry, famous examples of which include the one-word poem "lighght" and a one-letter poem comprising a four-legged version of the letter "m".

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Links to nations or nationalities point to articles with information on that nation's poetry or literature. For example, "United Kingdom" links to English poetry and "India" links to Indian poetry.

Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature.

Bob Hicok is an American poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Knott (poet)</span> American writer

William Kilborn Knott was an American poet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastian Barker</span> British poet

Sebastian Smart Barker FRSL was a British poet notable for a visionary manner that has been compared to William Blake in its use of the long ecstatic line and its "ability to write lyric poetry which used simple words to encapsulate profound meanings". His The Dream of Intelligence (1992) was named as a Book of the Year in both The Independent and The Spectator, and The Erotics of God (2005) was The Tablet′s Book of the Year in 2005.

Carol Muske-Dukes is an American poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and professor, and the former poet laureate of California (2008–2011). Her most recent book of poetry, Sparrow, chronicling the love and loss of Muske-Dukes’ late husband, actor David Dukes, was a National Book Award finalist.

Star Black is a poet, photographer, and artist. She has authored seven collections of poetry and taught in the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton and at The New School.

<i>Book of Mercy</i>

Book of Mercy is a poetry book by Canadian author, poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, published by McClelland and Stewart, and repackaged in March 2010. Its original publication was in 1984. Book of Mercy is considered a companion volume to Cohen's poetry collection, Book of Longing. The book is often referred to as a book of contemporary psalms. The poems are numbered rather than titled. Book of Mercy contains fifty poems. The topics are often spiritual or religious in nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Gregson (poet)</span> English poet

Ian Gregson is an English novelist and poet. His debut poetry collection Call Centre Love Song was shortlisted for a Forward Prize in 2006. In 2015, he was put forward for the position of Professor of Poetry at Oxford University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Neale</span> New Zealand novelist and poet

Emma Neale is a novelist and poet from New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paula Green (poet)</span> New Zealand poet and childrens author

Paula Joy Green is a New Zealand poet and children's author.

Savannah Brown is an American-British poet and author.

References

  1. "Local poet has gained a large online following with his poems typed onto scraps of paper". Independent Record. January 1, 2013. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
  2. Gregson, Tyler Knott (2014). Chasers of the Light, Penguin Group, New York. ISBN   9780399169731.
  3. 1 2 Russell, Anna. "Tyler Knott Gregson's Poetry Cracks Best-Seller Lists", The Wall Street Journal , New York, September 14, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  4. 1 2 Schuller, Megan (October 13, 2014). "'Chasers of the Light' proves poetry is not dead". ProQuest   1610816879.
  5. "Tyler Knott Gregson (@tylerknott) • Instagram photos and videos". instagram.com. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  6. Russell, Anna (September 19, 2014). "Arena--- Theater and Books-- Insta Poet: Tyler Knott Gregson: From Haiku to the Best- Seller List". The Wall Street Journal. ProQuest   1562988333.
  7. http://chasersofthelight.com
  8. http://tylerknott.com
  9. Alter, Aleander (November 7, 2015). "Web Poets' Society: New Breed Succeeds in Taking Verse Viral". The New York Times.
  10. "Best-Selling Books Week Ended Sept. 6.", The Wall Street Journal , New York, September 11, 2014. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  11. All the Words Are Yours by Tyler Knott Gregson | PenguinRandomHouse.com.
  12. Wildly into the Dark by Tyler Knott Gregson | PenguinRandomHouse.com.
  13. North Pole Ninjas: MISSION: Christmas! by Tyler Knott Gregson, Sarah Linden | PenguinRandomHouse.com.
  14. Miracle in the Mundane by Tyler Knott Gregson | PenguinRandomHouse.com.
  15. Illumination by Tyler Knott Gregson | PenguinRandomHouse.com.