Reginald Shepherd

Reginald Shepherd (April 10, 1963 – September 10, 2008) was an American poet and teacher. His latest publication, The Selected Shepherd: Poems, appeared in 2024.

Biography Reginald Shepherd was born in New York City and raised in the Bronx. Shepherd, African-American and gay, and his first collection, Some Are Drowning (1994), was chosen by Carolyn Forché for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Award in Poetry. He began his teaching career in the Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing and later taught at Northern Illinois University and Cornell University.

Shepherd's work has been widely anthologized, including in four editions of The Best American Poetry and two Pushcart Prize anthologies. His honors and awards include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Illinois Arts Council, the Florida Arts Council, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Books

Poetry Some Are Drowning (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1994) Angel, Interrupted (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1996) Wrong (University of Pittsburgh Press, 1999) Otherhood (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2003) Itinerary (Maryville, MO: Green Tower Press) Fata Morgana (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007) Red Clay Weather (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011) The Selected Shepherd: Poems, Selected & Introduced by Jericho Brown (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2024)

Criticism A Martian Muse: Further Readings on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry (Poets on Poetry Series, University of Michigan Press, 2010) Orpheus in the Bronx: Essays on Identity, Politics, and the Freedom of Poetry (Poets on Poetry Series, University of Michigan Press, 2008)

Anthologies The Iowa Anthology of New American Poetries (University of Iowa Press, 2004) Lyric Postmodernisms (Counterpath Press, 2008)

Letters Song After All: Letters of Reginald Shepherd and Alan Contreras (CraneDance Publications, 2013)