Masterson, Dan, 1934-

Elected to membership in Pen International in 1986, Dan Masterson is a recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and the Bullis, Borestone, and Fels awards. Widely published, his 5th book, That Which Is Seen: Poems Based Exclusively on Artwork, is nearing completion. Many of the selections have already appeared in such journals as The Sewanee, Georgia, and Ontario Review s, Artful Dodge, Ekphrasis, The New York Quarterly, Hotel Amerika, Kestrel, Mudlark, Eratio, Innisfree, Poems Niederngasse, and Inkwell, as well as in two anthologies and a college workbook. He founded and edits PoetryMaster.com and Enskyment.org, and has directed the Poetry Writing Program at SUNY/Rockland since 1966. For 18 of those years, he also directed the Poetry Writing program, and created and directed the Screenwriting program at Manhattanville College. Recently, the latter college established its Annual Screenwriting Competition in his name. The complete texts of his first two books, On Earth As It Is (Illinois, 1978) and Those Who Trespass (Arkansas,1991) are displayed on The Contemporary American Poetry Archives site (capa.conncoll.edu). His 3rd and 4th books are still in the marketplace. Recently, his work was featured on Garrison Keillor's Writer's Almanac.

Dan Masterson spent his early years in Buffalo, NY, where he started writing poetry in 3rd grade, hiding his work in an orangewood box beneath his bed. A drummer, boxer, and swimmer, he studied at Canisius College and graduated from Syracuse University. He has served stints as actor, narrator, disc jockey, stateside missionary worker, advertising copywriter, and theatrical public relations director. He resides in Rockland County, NY, with his wife, Janet, a psychotherapist. They are the parents of two children and the grandparents of four.

"It's a good life; writing, teaching. I'm trying to turn people on to poetry, in my classes and at readings. There are four elements I look for and try for in a poem: they are memorable language, remarkable images, engaging storylines, and residue of pain or experience. I spend a great deal of time (sometimes 200 hours) finishing a poem. The idea arrives like a chicken bone caught in the throat and it takes a long while to write it out of there. Much of my writing happens at our mountain cabin hidden away, like that orangewood box, in the high peak region of New York State's Adirondacks." ( Contemporary Authors Online . The Gale Group, 2001.)

From the guide to the Dan Masterson Papers, ca. 1960-ca. 1980, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)