Robert Piazza

Poet

Litchfield, CT
Connecticut US
Website: 
www.linkedin.com/in/rob-piazza-4…

Author's Bio

Rob Piazza is an American poet and classical guitarist who earned his MFA in Creative Writing at Fairfield University and his BA in music from Boston College.  In addition, he earned his MA at the Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College, where he studied with poet Paul Muldoon.  He teaches literature and composition at colleges and universities throughout New England.  His poems have recently appeared in Helix Literary Magazine at CCSU, The Bookends Review, and Long River Review at UCONN.  In 2023, he was a featured reader at the Mad River Literary Festival sponsored by CT State Northwestern.  Most recently, his full-length manuscript of original poetry was selected as a finalist for the 2025 Fairfield Book Prize by Woodhall Press.  Currently, he serves as Poet Laureate of Litchfield, Connecticut.

 

Education: 
Fairfield University MFA
Writers Retreats: 
The Frost Place

Publications & Prizes

Journals:
Halcyon Days
,
Heart of Flesh Literary Journal
,
The Helix
,
Long River Review
,
Lyric Poetry Magazine
,
Months To Years
,
Mystic Blue Review
,
Neologism Poetry Journal
,
October Hill Magazine
,
Society of Classical Poets
,
The Bookends Review
,
Welter
,
Young Ravens Literary Review
Prizes won: 

Finalist for 2025 Fairfield Book Prize, selected by Woodhall Press.  

Recipient of Individual Writers Grant, Litchfield Community Writers Group, January 2025;

Reappointed Poet Laureate of Litchfield, Connecticut, 2024;

Artist of the Month, Feature Article, Litchfield Arts Council, March 2024;

Recipient of Individual Writers Grant, Litchfield Community Writers Group, January 2024;

Headline Poet at Trinity Open-Mic, Torrington, CT, September 2023;

Featured Reader at Mad River Literary Festival sponsored by Northwestern Connecticut Community College, April 2023;

Recipient of Individual Writers Grant, Litchfield Community Writers Group, February 2023;

Featured Reader, Post University Open-Mic, Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury, CT, October 2022;

Poet Laureate of Litchfield, Connecticut, 2021;

Honorable Mention for "Boston, 1989" in Robert Haiduke Poetry Prize, Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College, 2004;

Poet Laureate, Chatsworth Elementary School, Larchmont, NY, 1980.

Watch

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, WD Snodgrass, WS Merwin, William Stafford, Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, Randall Jarrell, James Dickey, Dylan Thomas, Derek Wolcott, Richard Wilbur, Paul Muldoon, Seamus Heaney, Terrance Hayes, Liz Addonizio, Li Young Lee, & Baron Wormser.
What I'm reading now: 
Poetry as Survival by Gregory Orr, 100 Poems to Break Your Heart by Edward Hirsch, This Exquisite Loneliness by Richard Deming, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, He Held Radical Light by Christian Wiman, The Secret Gospel of Mark: A Poet's Memoir by Spencer Reece, Affirmations for Artists by Eric Maisel, A Scrap in the Blessings Jar by David Bottoms, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry by Jane Hirshfield, Robert Frost: A Life by Jay Parini, The Wild Card: Selected Poems by Karl Shapiro, Finger Exercises for Poets by Dorianne Laux

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Italian American, Lithuanian American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Heidelberg
Germany
Raised in: 
Pottstown, PA
Pennsylvania
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jul 04, 2025