Jeff Walt

Poet

Palm Desert, CA
California US

Author's Bio

Jeff Walt was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania among a community of railroad workers, brick layers, and stripminers. He's been employed as a cowboy at Walt Disney World; a gallery attendant; customer service trainer; a cook; masseur; barista; and as an adjunct English composition instructor at Honolulu Community College. He graduated from Goddard College in Vermont with his MFA in Writing and Literature. He is a Regional Editor for the San Diego Poetry Annual helping curate the finest poems in Southern California as well as their Steve Kowit Poetry Prize Coordinator.  His book, Leave Smoke, was published in 2019 by Gival Press; of it, Kim Addonizio writes, "Bleak, yes, but readers can take heart of Jeff's humor and sharp-eyed observations of the more absurd aspects of twenty-first century American life (electric vaginas, the three Wise Men in things, the muse as dominatrix).  What's left but to find love where we can and insist on celebrating, 'our bodies spooned, flawed, used.'"  Jeff is also the Founder and Director of The Desert Rat Residency for Writers in Palm Desert.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Sh!t Men Say to Me: A Poetry Anthology in Response to Toxic Masculinity (Moon Tide Press, 2021)
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A Year in INK, Vol. 11 (San Diego Writers, Ink, 2018)
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Beer, Wine, and Spirits Anthology (Concrete Wolf, 2018)
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All We Can Hold: A Collection of Poetry on Motherhood (Sage Hill Press, 2016)
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San Diego Poetry Annual (William Harry Harding--Garden Oak Press, 2016)
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Steve Kowit: This Unspeakably Marvelous Life (Serving House Books, 2016)
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San Diego Poetry Annual (William Harry Harding--Garden Oak Press, 2015)
,
Hibernation and Other Poems by Bear Bards (Lethe Press, 2014)
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Between: New Gay Poetry (Chelsea Station Editions, 2013)
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Off the Rocks (New Town Writers, 2013)
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TURNING THE PAGE: Poems of Trauma, Healing, and Transcendence (Fearless Books, 2013)
,
Touching: Poems of Love, Longing, and Desire (Fearless Books, 2011)
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Gay City: Vol. 3 - RePulped (Gay City Anthologies, 2010)
,
One for the Road (Split Oak Press, 2010)
,
Poetic Voices Without Borders 2 (Gival Press, 2009)
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The Light in Ordinary Things (Fearless Books, 2009)
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The Mysterious Life of the Heart: Stories from The Sun about Passion, Longing, and Love (The Sun Magazine, 2009)
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For Better or Worse (PoetWorks Press, 2005)
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Poetic Voices Without Borders (Gival Press, 2005)
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Hello, Goodbye (July Literary Press, 2004)
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Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge: Poems About Marriage (Grayson Books, 2003)
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The Poets' Grimm: 20th Century Poems from Grimm Fairy Tales (Story Line Press, 2003)
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Touched by Eros (Live Poets Society, 2002)
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Intimate Kisses: The Poetry of Sexual Pleasure (New World Library, 2001)
,
Mourning Our Mothers: Poems About Loss (Andrew Mountain Press, 1998)
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Passionate Lives (Queen of Swords Press, 1998)
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Hard Love: Writings on Violence & Intimacy (Queen of Swords Press, 1997)
,
Gents, Bad Boys, & Barbarians: New Gay Male Poetry (Alyson Publications, 1995)
,
Writing Our Way Out of the Dark: An Anthology by Child Abuse Survivors (Queen of Swords Press, 1995)
Book:
Leave Smoke (Gival Press, 2019)
Chapbook:
Journals:
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Alehouse Review
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Alligator Juniper
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Americas Review
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Arlington Literary Journal
, ,
Bamboo Ridge
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Bay Windows
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Chaminade Literary Review
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Chelsea Station
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Clackamas Literary Review
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Coastal Forest Review
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Comstock Review
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Connecticut Review
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Connecticut River Review
, , , ,
Gay and Lesbian Review
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Lifeboat: A Journal of Memoir
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Lummox Journal
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Mangrove Review
, ,
New York Native
, , ,
Prose Ax
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Provincetown Arts
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Pulse
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Quill & Ink
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Radiant Turnstile
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RFD
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Runes: A Review of Poetry
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Sahara
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Samsara Quarterly
, , , , , ,
T(OUR) Magazine
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The Ledge
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Wild Plum
Prizes won: 

Poem, Drunk Buddha, awarded semi-finalist in the 2021 Sandy Crimmins National Poetry Competition sponsored by Philadelphia Storeis.  Leave Smoke awarded the 2020 Housatonic Book Award for Poetry by the Western Connecticut State University’s MFA in Creative and Professional Writing.  Each award carries a $1000 honorarium, $500 travel stipend. "The award winner will be our guest at a residency of the MFA in Creative and Professional Writing at Western Connecticut State University to give a public reading and a one-day, three-hour workshop with MFA students. The mission of the Housatonic Book Awards is to promote excellent writing, to identify authors who serve as professional role models for writing students." Leave Smoke awarded Runner-Up in Poetry in the 2020 San Francisco Book Festival annual competition honoring the best books of the spring.  Single poem chosen as First Place in the 2018 Frank O'Hara Poetry Prize compettion sponsored by Worcester County Poetry Association and published in The Worcester Review. Manuscript, H E X, chosen as Semi-Finalist in the 2017 Washington Prize Word Works Prize competition.  Single poem selected as 2nd Place in The Frank O’Hara Prize sponsored by the Worcester County Poetry Associate and published in The Worcester Review, 2017.  Awarded Artist-in-Residence by the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts as part of their 2017 residency season.  Chapbook, Leave Smoke, selected as an Honorable Mention in the 2016 Concrete Wolf Poetry Chapbook contest.  Finalist for a single poem in the 2017 Lascaux Review Poetry Contest with publication; Single poem selected as one of ten shortlisted poems in the 2017 Gregory O’Donoghue International Poetry Prize competition out of 2,200 total submissions and published in Southword. Honorable Mention in the 2016 inaugural Steve Kowit Poetry Contest. Honorable Mention in the 42nd 2016 New Millennium Award for Poetry competition. Third Place in the 2016 Connecticut River Review Poetry Contest. Awarded Artist-in-Residence by the Fairhope Center for the Writing Arts as part of their 2018 residency season. Tenth Place in the 2016 Poetry Super Highway Poetry Contest selected from 865 total poems. Awarded Artist-in-Residence by Djerassi's Winter Writing Residency Alumni Program for Dec., 2016. Chapbook manuscript, Leave Smoke, awarded 5th Place in the Sow’s Ear 2016 Chapbook contest. Single poem selected as Honorable Mention in the 14th Annual Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award. Manuscript, HEX, chosen as Finalist in the 2016 Marsh Hawk Poetry Book Competition judged by Mark Doty; Single poem selected by D.A. Powell for the First Place prize in the Hugo House 2016 Hugo Literary Series New Works Contest on a theme. Manuscript, HEX, selected as Finalist in the 2015 Brittingham/Pollak Book Prizes with twenty-six other poets from 900 total entries. Single poem selected as Finalist in the 2015 Poetry International Poetry Contest. Poem selected as Finalist in the 2015 Joy Harjo Poetry Contest sponsored by Cutthroat...A Journal of the Arts. Poem selected for a professionally designed broadside by Broadsided Press (available for vectorizing in Aug., 2016). Awarded Artist-in-Residence by Djerassi's Winter Writing Residency Alumni Program for Dec., 2015. Two poems selected as Honorable Mentions in the 2015 Littoral Broadside Contest. Runner Up in Fugue's 2015 Poetry Contest and published in their fall anniversary issue (Kevin Prufer, judge). Honorable Mention in the 2015 Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award competition. First Place in the 2014 Red Hen Poetry Contest judged by William Trowbridge (poem published in Los Angeles Review, 2015); Finalist in the 2004, 2009, 2014 & 2016 Paumanok Poetry Contest sponsored by the Visiting Writers Program at Farmingdale State University; Finalist in the 13th Annual Gival Press Oscar Wilde Award, 2014. Song cycle based on poems selected & scored from Soot (Seven Kitchens Press, 2010) by NYC composer David Sisco performed at Carnegie Hall on 11/14/14; Honorable Mention in Winning Writer's 2013 Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Poetry Contest for "Bus Ride"; Semi-finalist in Grayson Books 2013 competiton selected by Martha Silano; Semi-finalist in the River Styx 2013 International Poetry Competition; awarded a full scholarship to attend The Sun Magazine's 2012 retreat at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, CA; 2009 Keystone Chapbook Prize ("Soot" currently in its 3rd printing [published 2010]); Finalist in Alligator Juniper’s 2009 National Writing Contest and published in the 2010 issue; Artisit-in-Residence fellowship for the month of Oct., 2009 & April, 2017 by Kalani Eco-village on the Big Island of Hawaii; one of three Honorable Mentions in the 2009 Littoral Press Broadside Contest (selected by Gary Young); Davoren Hanna International Poetry Competition (selected by Billy Collins & Carol Anne Duffy [3rd Place, 2002]); Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry & Prose 2004 Poetry Competition (Finalist [chosen by A.E. Stallings]); Hill-Stead Museum’s Sunken Garden Chapbook Poetry Competition (2nd Place, 2004); Whiskey Island’s 2004 Poetry Competition (1st Place); Oscar Wilde Award (2002 & 2004, Gival Press); New Millennium Poetry Prize XIII (1st Place, 2002); one of fifty semi-finalists in the 2006 “Discovery”/The Nation contest; 'Editor's Choice Award' in the anthology, "Re-pulped" (Gay City, 2010).

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Morri Creech, George Bilgere, Steve McDonald, Sue Standing, Stan Rice, Jeannine Hall Gailey, Kim Addonizio, Eve Grubin, Lee Rossi, Roy Bentley, James Hoch, Dorianne Laux, Michael Boccardo, Jan Beatty, A.E. Stallings, Jan Clausen, Lou Lipsitz, Jude Nutter, Trish Dugger, Mark Cox, Timothy Liu, Jim Moore, Spencer Reese, Allison Luterman, Ron Koertge, Luke Johnson, Ted Kooser, Steve Kowit, Linda McCarriston, Kevin Prufer, David Groff, Ellen Bass, Jericho Brown, Dane Cervine, Joseph Millar, Linda Gregg, Dana Goia, Ross Gay, Rick Lupert, Brendan Constantine, Susan Brown, Bryan Borland, Mark Doty, Robert Bly, Jo McDougall, Harry Griswold, Trish Duggar, Penny Perry, Nora Mitchell, Mai-Lon Gittelsohn, Joseph R. Trombatore, Sam Sax, Ron Padgett, Jennifer Perrine, Stephen Dobyns, Frank O'Hara, David Hernandez, Terry Spohn, Terrance Hayes, Stephen Cramer, Elizabeth Bradfield, Steven Cordova, Major Jackson, Dean Young, Patrick Ryan Frank, Tony Hoagland, Denise Duhamel, Ruth L. Schwartz, Ron Salisbury, Michael Ryan, Kevin Goodan, Ada Limon, Ocean Vuong, Malachi Black, Dennis Rhodes, Amie Whittemore, Bob Hickock, Thom Gunn, Hayden Carruth, Bill Knot, Ron Mohring, David Trinidad, David Tucker, Doby Gibson, Peter Perrira, Spoon Jackson, Philip Levine, Jane Kenyon, Maureen Seaton, Neil De La Flor, Barbara Hamby, Bruce Weigl, Alan Shapiro, Amy Beeder, Walt McDonald, Nick Lantz, Mark Wagenaar, Sarah Freligh, Mai Der Vang.
What I'm reading now: 
Radio Static by James Hoch, Blood Pages by George Bilgere, My Mother's Red Ford by Roy Bentley, Just Living by Susan Browne, Wheelchair Samurai by Lee Rossi

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Mixed-Race
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Clearfield, PA
Pennsylvania
Raised in: 
Clearfield, PA
Pennsylvania
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Nov 11, 2022