A Great American Poet
Dean Young's experimental, contemporary poetry is thought provoking and unique. His wide variety of influences makes his work challenging and enjoyable!
Reasons to try reading Dean Young's poetry
Young experiments with techniques, words, sounds, and places. He has a wonderful voice for modern poetry, and is someone everyone should try reading once!
Great Dean Young stuff from Amazon
Dean Young at a Glance
Dean Young (1955-) is a contemporary American poet in the poetic lineage of John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, and Kenneth Koch. Though often cited as a second-generation New York School poet, his work also resonates with the Surrealist poetry of Charles Baudelaire, Arthur Rimbaud, and Guillaume Apollinaire, and if neo-surrealism has a poetic corollary then it is him. His most recent books are Elegy on Toy Piano and Embryoyo, the first of which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
Young currently splits his time between Berkeley, California, where he lives with his wife, novelist Cornel...
Selections from Young's Work
- From "This Living Hand"
- An except from the poem "This Living Hand"
- Three poems from Jacket 19
- The October 2002 issue of Jacket contains three of Young's poems-- "Lives of the Deep Sea Divers", "Lives of the Surge Protectors", and "Lives of the Veterans".
- Poemhunter
- The Dean Young page on Poemhunter contains seven different works. My personal favorite on the list is "Bay Arena" which I connect to as a former Berkeley resident.
- The Paris Review
- Only one of Young's poems ("Poem Without Forgiveness") is available on the Paris Review website, but four others are available in the issue.
- Slate Magazine
- Not only can you read Young's "Ode to a Hangover" but you can listen to an audio file of Young reading the work.
