Jeremy Cantor Biography

Jeremy Cantor’s poems have appeared in ISLE (Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and the Environment, published in conjunction with Oxford University Press), Ithaca Lit, The Naugatuck River Review, Glassworks, Prelude, The Bicycle Review, Pirene's Fountain, Poetalk, and other journals. “Tearing Out the Blue Girls” was reprinted in Canary. Poems recently anthologized have been “Teaching by Example” in Connoisseurs of Suffering: Poetry for The Journey to Meaning (University Professors’ Press), “Election Results, by State” and “Election Results, by County” in On Writing in a Dark Time (Kelson Books), and “Lengthwise,” in Beer, Wine and Spirits (World Enough Writers).

He was a semi-finalist in the competition for the Dartmouth Poet in Residence at The Frost Place, a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home in Franconia, New Hampshire, and was a finalist for the Lascaux Prize in Poetry (for both his book Wisteria from Seed and for the poem “Her Husband Considers the Words of Picasso”). His poem "The Nietzsche Contrapositive," was awarded first prize in the Grey Sparrow Journal's Poetry and Flash Competition (judges: Mandi Casolo, Doug Holder, and Townsend Walker) and appeared in Grey Sparrow's annual, Snow Jewel.

Mr. Cantor’s debut collection, Wisteria From Seed, with a foreword by former Boston Globe Arts Critic Michael Manning, was published in 2015 by Kelsey Books. Mr. Manning has said of his work, “His erudition is not worn, but is subdued, enticingly veiled, and that very subduction becomes an effective, almost signatory characteristic of his poetry. Things emerge from Jeremy’s work, their meaning disguised in the plain dress of moment-to-moment experience. He’s mastered the stealth epiphany.”

In Mr. Cantor’s own words: “I began writing shortly before retiring from a career in laboratory chemistry. I have made and tested engine oil additives, detergents and pharmaceuticals, driven a forklift, worked in a full-body acid-proof hazmat suit, tried to keep my fingers working in a walk-in freezer at -40°F and worked behind radiation shielding. I prefer writing.”

He is currently working on his second volume of poetry.