Mark Saba

Poet, Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

West Bath, ME
Maine US

Author's Bio

I have been writing for 30 years. I approach every instance of writing, whether it be a poem, a story, a novel, or an essay, as if I'd never written a word. I let the vision find the right format, as I try to free myself from the influences of my beloved teachers and literary forebears. Never an easy thing to do, it is the only way to realize originality in my work. I think it is the duty of any living writer to write from the heart, thereby acting as a medium for the zeitgeist, a witness who produces what can only be produced by his or her individual circumstances in his or her time, free of self-consciousness and its attending egotism.

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Anthology:
Roll (Telling Our Stories Press, 2012)
Journals:
New Haven Review
, ,
Palo Alto Review
,
Under the Sun

Fiction

Anthology:
Thaddeus Olsen (a novella) in Desperate Remedies (Apis Books, 2008)
Books:
A Luke of All Ages / Fire and Ice (two novellas, winner of Reader Views Short Fiction Award) (Adelaide Books, 2020)
,
Ghost Tracks: Stories of Pittsburgh Past (Big Table Publishing Company, 2017)
,
The Landscapes of Pater (Vineyard Press, 2004)
Journals:
Byline
,
Caduceus
,
Confrontation
,
Connecticut River Review
,
Fiction
,
FutureCycle Poetry
,
Kentucky Poetry Review
,
Larcom Review
,
Louisiana Literature
, ,
Mars Hill Review
,
Midnight Mind
,
Paper Street
, ,
Phantasmagoria
,
The Ledge
,
VIA
,
Xanadu

Poetry

Anthologies:
Poetic Voices Without Borders 2 (Gival Press, 2009)
,
Poetic Voices Without Borders (Gival Press, 2005)
,
Nantucket (White Fish Press, 2001)
,
Essential Love (PoetWorks Press, 2000)
,
Elvis in Oz (University of Virginia Press, 1992)
Books:
Flowers in the Dark (Kelsay Books, 2023)
,
Calling the Names (David Robert Books, 2017)
,
Painting a Disappearing Canvas (Grayson Books, 2012)
,
Judith of the Lights in Three Women: Touching the Boundaries of Life (winner of Mellen Poetry Prize) (Edwin Mellen Press, 1996)
Journals:
Connecticut Review
, ,
Literature Today
,
Sea Letter
,
Prizes won: 

Academy of American Poets Prize (Hollins College, 1983) Andrew James Purdy Fiction Award (Hollins College, 1983) Mellen Poetry Press Epic Narractive Poem Award (1996)

Watch

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, John Steinbeck, Emerson, Yeats, Murakami

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Italian American, Polish American
Fluent in: 
Italian
Born in: 
Pittsburgh, PA
Pennsylvania
Raised in: 
Pittsburgh, PA
Pennsylvania
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 23, 2023