Leonard Orr

Poet

Vancouver, WA
Washington US

Author's Bio

Leonard Orr retired in 2022 after thirty-one years in the English Department of Washington State University. He wrote or edited thirteen volumes of literary criticism on W. B. Yeats, Joseph Conrad, critical theory, narrative theory, postcolonialism, and other topics. He is the author of three books of poetry: Why We Have Evening (2010), Timing Is Everything (2012), and A Floating Woman (2015), all published by Cherry Grove WordTech Collections. His poems have been published in many journals: Poetry International, Rattle, Poetry East, Black Warrior Review, Cirque: A Literary Journal for the North Pacific Rim, Fugue, Crab Creek Review, Natural Bridge, Rosebud, Isotope, and elsewhere. His work has appeared in anthologies (most recently, 101 Jewish Poems for the Third Millennium, edited by Matthew E. Silverman and Nancy Naomi Carlson [University of Akron Press, Ohio, 2020]).  

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Timing Is Everything (Cherry Grove Collections, 2012)
,
Why We Have Evening (WordTech Communications, 2010)
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Daytime Moon (Foothills Publishing, 2005)
Journals:
Bellowing Ark
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Heliotrope
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Obsessed With Pipework
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Poem
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Poets West
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Writing on the Edge
Prizes won: 

Finalist for the T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize and the Blue Lynx Poetry Prize and a semifinalist for the Floating Bridge Chapbook Prize and the William Stafford Poetry Prize. He was named Lewis E. and Stella G. Buchanan Distinguished Professor of English (2005-08).

More Information

Gives readings: 
No
Travels for readings: 
No
Identifies as: 
Jewish
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Born in: 
New York City
Raised in: 
Oceanside, NY, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Mar 24, 2025