Phillip Howerton

Poet

West Plains, MO
Missouri US

Author's Bio

Phillip Howerton holds a PhD in English from University of Missouri-Columbia and is a professor of English at a small university in southeastern Missouri. His work has appeared in numerous journals and books, such as American History through Literature, Arkansas Review, Christian Science Monitor, The Concord Saunterer, Encyclopedia of American Environmental LiteratureJournal of Kentucky Studies, The Midwest Quarterly, Plainsongs, Red Rock Review, The South Carolina Review, Teaching American Literature, Thoreau Society Bulletin, and Writers of the American Renaissance. He is a co-founder and poetry editor of Cave Region Review, an associate editor of The Heartland Review, and has served as general editor of Elder Mountain: A Journal of Ozarks Studies. His poetry collection, The History of Tree Roots, was published by Golden Antelope Press in 2015, and his The Literature of the Ozarks: An Anthology was published by University of Arkansas Press in 2019, for which he received the 2019 Missouri Literary Award from the Missouri Library Association. His second poetry collection, Gods of Four Mile Creek, was released by Golden Antelope Press in October 2023. He is also the owner of Cornerpost Press. This press published Steve Wiegenstein's Scattered Lights, which was a finalist for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Fiction Award, and Wild Muse: Ozarks Nature Poetry, a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award.  

Publications & Prizes

Anthology:
The Literature of the Ozarks: An Anthology (University of Arkansas Press, 2019)
Book:
The History of Tree Roots (Golden Antelope Press, 2015)
Prizes won: 

Missouri Literary Award-Missouri Library Association

Finalist, Eric Hoffer Award

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Robert Frost, Ted Kooser, Richard Wright, Jane Kenyon, Henry David Thoreau, Wendell Berry, Brooks Blevins, Emily Dickinson, C. D. Albin, Joseph Ellis
What I'm reading now: 
Longfellow's Imaginative Engagement by Jeffrey Hotz

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
European American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Marshfield, MO
Missouri
Raised in: 
Long Lane, MO
Missouri
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 12, 2024