The Dean of Discipline

Waters explores the confluences of the sensual and the spiritual, and renders their mysteries with precision and clarity. The title evokes the rigorous consciousness that prods the artist to deepen into his craft. Line by line, Waters delivers the passionate eloquence and intensity that distinguish his poems.

Michael Waters’s books of poetry include Celestial Joyride, Gospel Night, Darling Vulgarity, and Parthenopi: New and Selected Poems. He is the coeditor of Reel Verse: Poems about the Movies, Contemporary American Poetry, and Perfect in Their Art: Poems on Boxing from Homer to Ali. He has chaired the poetry panel for the National Book Awards. Recipient of five Pushcart Prizes and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, the Fulbright Foundation, and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Waters is professor of English at Monmouth University and Visiting Distinguished Professor in the Drew University MFA program.