Poet and essayist Robert Cowan is the author (or editor) of six books of poetry, critical pedagogy, and literary criticism.

Poetry collections Elsewhen (2019) and Close Apart (2018) consider our experiences in alternate histories and the distances between ourselves and those we are theoretically closest to. The critical pedagogy  collection Teaching Double Negatives (2018) asks whether marginalized students recognize themselves in texts that dissent from dominant paradigms that may fuel their marginalization. The collection of literary criticism Solace in Oblivion (2020) addresses approaches to transcendence of physical embodiment in modern European literature, often through recourse to violence. The Indo-German Identification (2010) looks at the identification of Western European poets and philosophers with South Asian religious sources, in their attempts to understand their own origins and destinies. And the Festschrift Underlying Rhythm (2023) celebrates the work of mentor, scholar, and translater Burton Pike.

Robert Cowan’s work has been nominated for DAAD, Pushcart, Scaglione, and Wellek prizes. He received his doctorate in Comparative Literature from the City University of New York and is Professor of English at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, where he directs the Literary Studies program. CV