Glaser, Michael S. 1943–

(Michael Schmidt Glaser)

PERSONAL: Born March 20, 1943, in Chicago, IL; son of Milton A. (a chemist) and Rona (a philosopher; maiden name, Schmidt) Glaser; married Kathleen W. (an educator), May 8, 1976; children: Brian, Joshua, Daniel, Amira, Eva. Ethnicity: "Russian/Polish/German." Education: Denison University, B.A., 1965; Kent State University, M.A., 1967, Ph.D., 1971; postdoctoral studies at University of California at San Diego, 1974–75. Politics: "Kindness." Religion: Jewish. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, hiking, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—P.O. Box 1, St. Mary's City, MD 20686. Office—St. Mary's College of Maryland, E. Fisher Rd., St. Mary's City, MD 20686-3001. E-mail—msglaser@smcm.edu.

CAREER: Kent State University, Kent, OH, teaching fellow, 1966–70; St. Mary's College of Maryland, St. Mary's City, MD, assistant professor, 1970–74, associate professor, 1974–82, professor, 1982–, chair of arts and letters division, 1979–81, 2001–04, chair of English department, 1996–. Poet laureate of Maryland, 2004–. Chair, Institute of Humanistic Education, 1974–85; has also chaired the St. Mary's County Council of PTAs; served as director of the St. Mary's College of Maryland Oxford Program and Festival of Poets and Poetry/Literary Festival at St. Mary's, 1980–. Has also served on the board for the poetry committee of the Greater Washington, DC, Area, the St. Mary's County Housing Authority, and the St. Mary's Women's Center. Participates in Poet-in-the-Schools project, Maryland State Arts Council, Baltimore, 1985–.

MEMBER: Academy of American Poets, Poetry Society of America, Writer's Center.

AWARDS, HONORS: Faculty student life award, St. Mary's College of Maryland, 1992; Columbia Award, PCGWA, 1995, for service to poetry; Painted Bride Chapbook Award, Painted Bride Quarterly, 1996; Individual Artist Award for poetry, Maryland State Arts Council, l997; Homer Dodge Endowed Award for Excellence in Teaching, St. Mary's College of Maryland, 2003; Named Poet Laureate for the State of Maryland, 2004.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) The Cooke Book: A Seasoning of Poets (poetry anthology), SCOP Publications (College Park, MD), 1987.

The Poet and the Poem (sound recording), first broadcast on WPFW Radio, Washington, DC, 1987.

A Lover's Eye (poetry), Bunny & Crocodile Press (Washington, DC), 1989, 2nd edition, 1991.

In the Men's Room and Other Poems (poetry chapbook), Painted Bride Quarterly, 1996.

The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress (sound recording), Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 1998.

Weavings 2000: The Maryland Millennial Anthology, Forest Woods Media Productions (MD), 2000.

Greatest Hits (poetry), Pudding House Publications (Columbus, OH), 2001.

Being a Father (poetry), Bunny & Crocodile Press (Washington, DC), 2004.

Contributor of poems to anthologies, including Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry, Unsettling America: Race & Ethnicity in America, Welcome to Your Life, Identity Lessons: Learning American Style, Outsiders, and Light-Gathering Poems. Contributor to periodicals, including the Progressive, Nimrod, First Things, Plum Review, Christian Science Monitor, American Studies, Midstream, Poet Lore, Friends Journal, America, Prairie Schooner, Antioch Review, The American Scholar, The Sun, New Letters, Sacred Journey, and the Paterson Literary Review.

SIDELIGHTS: Named the Poet Laureate for the State of Maryland in 2004, Michael S. Glaser is respected for writing deceptively simple prose poems that are typically based on his own ordinary life experiences. His view of poetry is that it should serve as a medium for sharing experiences between people; verse, he has maintained, should not be an intimidating form of literature, but rather a way to learn about life. As the author put it in an interview for the Washington Post, "I'm less interested in poetry as an academician than I am as a person. I read literature because it helps me understand and make sense of my life, not because it's an academic discipline." Also wishing to share the world of poetry with others, Glaser not only composes verse himself, but is well known in Maryland as a teacher of writing and as the director of the Festival of Poets and Poetry/Literary Festival at St. Mary's as well as the annual Voices Reading series at St. Mary's College of Maryland.

Critics of Glaser's works have found his compositions to be intimate works that aim for the heart. In one of his more recent collections, Being a Father, for instance, James R. Sims wrote in the Montserrat Review, "Being a Father disarms me, touches my heart, and deepens my understanding of parenthood through the freshness of the poetic experience."

After accepting the unpaid post of Maryland's poet laureate, Glaser planned to work with teachers around the state to include more poetry in the classroom. "I'm looking forward … to sharing more broadly something that I truly love," he told Karen Buckelew in the Jewish Times.

Glaser told CA: "For influencing my work, I am especially grateful to William Wordsworth for his belief in the everyday language of the common man; Galway Kinnell for his elegance; Sharon Olds for her bravery; Lucille Clifton for her wisdom; Mary Oliver for her perspective; William Stafford for his compassion and Grace Cavalieri for her joyous idiosyncrasies."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Jewish Times (Baltimore, MD), August 13, 2004, Karen Buckelew, "Maryland State Poet's Jewish Angle."

Small Press Bookwatch, November, 2004, review of Being a Father.

Washington Post, August 8, 2004, "Questions and Answers With …," interview with Glaser, p. C4.

ONLINE

Maryland State Arts Council Web site, http://www.marylandstateartscouncil.org/ (August 2, 2004), "Michael S. Glaser Named Maryland's New Poet Laureate."

Montserrat Review, http://www.themontserratreview.com/ (November 14, 2005), James R. Sims, review of Being a Father.

St. Mary's College of Maryland Web site, http://www.smcm.edu/ (October 17, 2005), "Michael S. Glaser: Poet Laureate of Maryland."