Alan Soldofsky

Alan Soldofsky

alan.soldofsky@sjsu.edu

Website: http://tsup.truman.edu/item.asp?itemId=479

   San Jose, CA

Alan Soldofsky has published a new collection of poems, In the Buddha Factory, from Truman State University Press. Also three chapbooks of poems: Kenora Station, Staying Home, and most recently a chapbook that includes a selection of poems by his son, the poet Adam Soldofsky, Holding Adam / My Father’s Books. He has published poems widely in magazines and academic journals including: The Antioch Review, The Crab Orchard Review, The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review, The Greensboro Review, Grand Street, The Michigan Quarterly Review, The Nation, The North American Review, and Poetry East. His poems have three times been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has also contributed essays on modern and contemporary poets to a variety of journals. His articles, essays, interviews, and book reviews have appeared widely in periodicals including Chelsea, Narrative, Poetry Flash, Quarry West, and The Writer’s Chronicle. He is a professor of English and Creative Writing at San Jose State University where he directs the MFA Program in Creative Writing.

MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST

What did the Fellowship or Laureate mean to you at the time you received it?

The Fellowship gave me some extra time to write new poems - I didn't need to teach summer school. Some of the poems I was writing evolved into pieces I included in my 2013 collection, IN THE BUDDHA FACTORY.

What do you do now? Has your art evolved or changed?

I continue writing poems and continue directing the Creative Writing program and coordinating the MFA degree at San Jos? State University.

What is one piece of advice you would give to an emerging artist?

Work hard at your craft. More than the world, your work will pay you back.

Briefly, how would you describe the state of the arts locally, as well as national and beyond?

Poetry is alive and well.