Gary Young

Poet

Santa Cruz, CA
California US
Email: 
geyoung@ucsc.edu
Website: 
gary-young.net

Author's Bio

Gary Young has been awarded grants from the NEA and the NEH. He’s received a Pushcart Prize, and his book of poems, The Dream of a Moral Life, won the James D. Phelan Award. He is the author of several other collections of poetry including Hands; Days; Braver Deeds, winner the Peregrine Smith Poetry Prize; No Other Life, winner of the William Carlos Williams Award; Pleasure; and Even So: New and Selected Poems. His most recent books are That’s What I Thought, winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award from Persea Books, and Precious Mirror, translations from the Japanese. In 2009 He received the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. He teaches creative writing and directs the Cowell Press at UC Santa Cruz.

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Precious Mirror, translations from the Japanese (White Pine Press, 2018)
,
That's What I Thought (Persea Books, 2018)
,
Even So: New and Selected Poems (White Pine Press, 2012)
,
Pleasure (Heyday Books, 2006)
,
No Other Life (Heyday Books, 2005)
,
Braver Deeds (Gibbs Smith, 1999)
,
Days (Silverfish Review Press, 1997)
,
The Dream of a Moral Life (Copper Beech Press, 1990)
Journals:
American Poetry Review
,
Antaeus
,
Kenyon Review
Prizes won: 

Blue Light Poetry Prize Winner, 2021.

Winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Editor’s Choice Award, Persea Books, New York, 2017.

Gary D. Licker Memorial Chair, Cowell College, University of California, CA, 2017. 

George Bogin Memorial Award, Poetry Society of America, 2014. 

Lucille Medwick Memorial Award, Poetry Society of America, 2013. 

Artist of the Year of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, California, 2012.

Poet Laureate of Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, California, 2010-2011.

The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, 2009. 

William Carlos Williams Award of the Poetry Society of America, 2003.

National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship Grant, 2003.

Lyric Poem Award of the Poetry Society of America, 2001.

Peregrine Smith Poetry Prize, 1998.

Amaranth Prose Poetry Prize Winner, 1998.

Adrienne Lee Award in Poetry, 1996.

Western Books Exhibition Competition Winner, 1994.

California Arts Council Grant in Poetry, 1993.

Pushcart Prize, 1992.

Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation Grant in Poetry, 1991.

Dewar’s Young Artists Recognition Award in Literature, 1990.

The John Ciardi Fellowship in Poetry, Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference, 1990.

National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, 1986.

James D. Phelan Award in Literature, 1983.

National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship Grant, 1981–1982.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 24, 2024