Stuart Kestenbaum

Stuart Kestenbaum is the author of five collections of poems, most recently How to Start Over (Deerbrook Editions, 2019). He is also the author of the essay collection The View from Here (Brynmorgen Press, 2012).

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser has written “Stuart Kestenbaum writes the kind of poems I love to read, heartfelt responses to the privilege of having been given a life. No hidden agendas here, no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love.” 

Kestenbaum is the host of the Maine Public Radio program Poems from Here and was the host/curator of the podcast Make/Time. He was the director of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts from 1988 until 2015, and has designed and implemented a residency program alongside the Libra Foundation. He was appointed Maine’s poet laureate in 2016.

Read about Stuart Kestenbaum’s 2020 Poets Laureate Fellowship project.