David Dephy

Poet

New York , NY
New York US

Author's Bio

DAVID DEPHY -- The trilingual Georgian/American award-winning poet, novelist, and multimedia artist. 

An active participant in the American and international poetry and artistic scenes, such as PEN World Voices, 92Y Poetry Center, Voices of Poetry, Brownstone Poets, The New York City Poetry Festival, Spectrum Reading Series, Long Island Poetry Listings, New York Public Library, Starr Bar Poetry Series, Poets in Nassau, Poets in Massachusetts, Columbia University – School of the Arts in the City of New York, Great Weather for Media in New York City, New York City Voices, Assiduous Dust, Bowery Poetry Club. His works have been published and anthologized in USA, UK and all over the world by the many literary magazines, journals, and publishing houses. He is an author of fifteen books of poetry, eight novels, and five audio albums of poetry.

His book-length works in the English language published in the USA are a novella Gemini Touch (Westbrae Literary Group, 2026) poetry Rays Never Were So Near As Now (Westbrae Literary Group, Berkeley, California, 2025), A Double Meaning (with co-author Joshua Corwin, Adelaide Books, New York, 2022), and Eastern Star (Adelaide Books, New York, 2020)

As well as the multimedia project Poetry Orchestra and audio albums of poetry with sound artists and musicians Saphileaum and Irakli Gabriel: The Songs of the American Prophets (Crystal Speech Records, 2023, New York); The Spirit of Silence (Crystal Speech Records, 2024, New York).

Named Poet-in-Residence for Brownstone Poets Anthology 2024 - 2026, New York.

Founder of award-winning multi-media poetry project Poetry Orchestra.

He was an artist-in-residence at the writer’s residency Ledig House in Ghent, New York, and was invited to participate in the PEN World Voices festival in New York City, where he presented a live poetry event entitled “The Second Skin” with Laurie Anderson, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Salman Rushdie at the Unterberg Poetry Center, 92nd Str Y.

David Dephy was exiled from his native country of Georgia in August of 2017 and was granted immediate and indefinite political asylum in the United States of America. His wife and 9-year-old son joined him in the U.S. with the family reunion program in 2023 after seven years of exile.

Recognized as a Literature Luminary by Bowery Poetry, a Stellar Poet by Voices of Poetry, an Incomparable Poet by Statorec, A Brilliant Grace by Headline Poetry and Press, and praised for his Extremely Unique Poetic Voice by Cultural Daily.

His poetry work A Sense of Purpose has been sent to the Moon by NASA, The Lunar Codex, and Brick Street Poetry from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on January 15, 2025.

He lives in New York City; he holds a master's degree in fine arts accredited by Globe Language USA and works as a CUNY-Brooklyn College-certified Art & Poetry Teacher. 

Writers Retreats: 

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Gemini Touch (Westbrae Literary Group, 2026)
,
Rays Never Were So Near As Now (Westbrae Literary Group, 2025)
,
A Double Meaning (Adelaide Books, 2022)
,
Eastern Star (Adelaide Books, 2020)
,
Absolute New York (The University of Georgia Press, 2015)
Prizes won: 
  • New York Art Award 2026 - New York Edge The School for Art and Philosophy & NYU
  • New York Nassau County Poet Laureate Society Award 2025
  • Lit Shark Magazine's Best of 2024 Poetry
  • Poet-in-Residence 2024 - 2026 for Brownstone Poets Anthology. 
  • Walt Whitman Birthplace Association, New York, USA, 2023 - The Stipendiant and a Featured Poet 
  • A 2023 Pushcart Prize Nominee for Brownstone Poets
  • Prime Number Magazine Poetry Award, USA, 2023 - Finalist
  • The Sense of Purpose - The poetry work by David Dephy is sent to the Moon by NASA, The Lunar Codex & Brick Street Poetry on January 15 2025 landed on the Monn on March 2, 2025.
  • American Book Fest 2023 - The International Book Awards 2023 - Finalist in the Poetry: Narrative Category 
  • The Nelson Mandela Premium Award, 2022 from The Kingdom of Morocco in Recognition of His Vauable Poetry Contribution in Support of Ukraine During this Unfortunate War
  • The Best Poetry Work the Experimental Poetry Performance the 1st Plase Winner in Recognition of Outstanding Work in Poetry by The Artists Forum, 2022, New York, USA 
  • The Finalist and Shortlist Winner Nominee of the Adelaide Literary Awards New York for the category of Best Poem, 2020/2021, USA 
  • Winner of the Finalist Award in the 2020 Best Book Award National Contest by American Book Fest, USA 
  • Winner of the 2019 Spillwords Press Poetry American Award as June’s Publication of the Month. Spillwords Press. New York, USA
  • The Favorite Poem by Dissonance Magazine, 2019, Kent, UK 
  • The Finalist of the Adelaide Literary Award Anthology, 2019 for the category of Best Poem. Adelaide Books/Adelaide Magazine. New York, USA 
  • The Editor's Choice Poem 2019 by Vita Brevis Magazine. New York, USA 
  • Nominated as The Publication of the Year and The Author of the Year/Month by Spillwords Press, four-time in a row, 2019/2020, New York, USA
  • Best European Fiction 2012, edited by Aleksandar Hemon and prefaced by Nicole Krauss, Dalkey Archive Press. Chicago, USA ///

Listen

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Edgar Allan Poe, William Blake, Richard Bach, Rustvely, Hermann Hesse, William Faulkner, Kahlil Gibran, Thomas Mann, Louise Glück, Jalāl ad-Dīn Rumi, Ernest Hemingway, Omar Khayyam, Grigol Robakidze, Orhan Pamuk, Vazha Pshavela, Paco Svimonishvili, Aaron Fischer, Wayne Miller, Andrea Scrima, Ronald P. Bremner, Billy Lamont, Judy Turek, Joshua Furst, DW Gibson, Stephen Frech, Lucas Hirsch, Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Herman Melville.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Georgian American
Fluent in: 
English, Georgian
Born in: 
Tbilisi
Georgia
Raised in: 
New York, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Aug 09, 2026