Keith Gaboury, MFA

Poet

Oakland, CA
California US
Website: 
keithgaboury.com

Author's Bio

Keith Gaboury earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College. His collections include Monetized Happiness (American Poetry Systems, 2025), Still Human (Falkenberg Press, 2025), The Cosmos is Alive (Kelsay Books, 2023), and Oakland, I’m Not Dead (The Pedestrian Press, 2020). Keith is a former president of the Berkeley Branch of the California Writers Club and a current organizer of the Beast Crawl Literary Festival. He lives in Oakland, California.

Education: 
Emerson College Creative Writing MFA MFA
San Francisco State University MA
Writers Retreats: 
Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Colossus:Current (Colossus Press, 2025)
,
The Town: An Anthology of Oakland Poets (Nomadic Press, 2023)
,
Colossus:Home (Colossus Press, 2020)
,
Someone Tell Us Where We're Going: Poets Wanted Anthology 2020 (Falkenberg Press, 2020)
Books:
Monetized Happiness (American Poetry Systems, 2025)
,
Still Human (Falkenberg Press, 2025)
,
The Cosmos is Alive (Kelsay Books, 2023)
Chapbooks:
The Boy Born with a Pinhole Heart (Finishing Line Press, 2022)
,
Oakland, I'm Not Dead (Pedestrian Press, 2020)
Journals:
After Happy Hour Review
,
Anapest
,
Aperture
,
Bacopa Literary Review
,
Barely South Review
,
Bending Genres
,
Black Horse Review
,
Bleating Thing Magazine
,
Blue Rivers
,
Boston Poetry Magazine
,
Chaleur Magazine
,
Closed Eye Open
,
Crab Fat Magazine
,
Dual Coast Magazine
,
Eclectica
,
Five 2 One Magazine
,
Fredericksburg Literary and Art Review
,
Full of Crow
,
Garfield Lake Review
,
Ginosko Literary Journal
,
Green House
,
Griffel
,
Haight-Ashbury Literary Journal
,
Hare's Paw
,
Into the Void
,
Invisible City
,
Inwood Indiana
,
IthacaLit
,
Levitate Magazine
,
Literary Juice
,
Manzano Mountain Review
,
Map Literary
,
Nebo
,
New Millennium Writings
,
Nine Muses Review
,
Oddball Magazine
,
Pato Journal
,
Permafrost
,
Persimmon Review
,
Poetry Quarterly
,
Querencia Press
,
Red Fez
,
Rome Review
,
Rumble Fish Quarterly
,
scissors & spackle
,
Sooth Swarm Journal
,
sPARKLE & bLINK
,
Speculative City
,
The Birds We Piled Loosely
,
The Ear
,
The Gambler
,
Tiny Seed Literary Journal
,
Viewless Wings
,
Witches 'n Pink
,
Write From Wrong Magazine
Prizes won: 

1) The 40th New Millennium Writings Poetry Contest (Honorable Mention): "The Milky Way in L.A."

2) The 2017 Green House Poetry Prize Finalist (Orange Quarterly): "City Brain" 

3) 2017 Rebecca Lard Award Finalist (Poetry Quarterly): "Project Echo" 

4) Monthly Muse #4 Award Winner (New Millennium Writings): "Beginnings"

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Camille Dungy, Albert Goldbarth, Maxine Chernoff, Russell Edson, Matthew Dickman, James Tate, Italo Calvino, B.H. Fairchild, Richard Wright

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Feminist, French, Irish American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults, Children, Disability, LGBTQ, Schools, Teachers, Teenagers
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Berkeley, CA
California
Raised in: 
Olathe, KS
Kansas
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Sep 12, 2026