Colorado Poets Center

Jeffrey Ethan Lee

Biography

Jeffrey Ethan Lee's first full-length poetry book, invisible sister, is forthcoming from Many Mountains Moving Press, 2004 (spring).  He won the 2002 Sow’s Ear Poetry Chapbook competition for The Sylf (2003), published Strangers in a Homeland (chapbook with Ashland Press, 2001), and won the first Tupelo Press Prize for literary fiction in 2001.  He also created identity papers (2002), a full-length dramatic poem with music on CD, which was recorded with the support of the PA Council on the Arts. He has published hundreds of poems and stories in American Poetry Review, Crab Orchard Review, Crazyhorse, Crosscurrents, Green Mountain Review, Many Mountains Moving, Washington Square, Xconnect, and others.  He has an MFA and Ph.D. from NYU, and he teaches creative writing at University of Northern Colorado.  He encourages you to visit his website at www.unco.edu/poetry/jeffrey.lee.

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Bibliography

Selected works
Book-length texts

• invisible sister (full-length poetry book from Many Mountains Moving Press, April 2004).
• The Sylf (winner of the $1,000 Sow’s Ear Poetry Press Chapbook Prize, April 2003).
• identity papers, a long poem on a CD performed by Jeffrey Lee, percussionist Toshi Makihara and actress Lori-Nan Engler (Drimala Records, 2002, at www.drimala.com).
• Strangers in a Homeland (chapbook from Ashland University: Ashland Poetry Press, 2001).

Individual texts

• Painted Bride Quarterly: Print Annual 2 (Issue 68) 2004 for “her blues.”
• Drexel Online Journal (http://www.drexel.edu/doj/index.asp) for “Plausibly Deniable Family Poem #1” (April 2004).
• XConnect (http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/xconnect) for “NYC leitmotifs,” “Iris’ painter hears the rain music return (off broadway),” and “Iris’ blues for her painter” (March 2004).
• Unpleasant Event Schedule ( http://www.unpleasanteventschedule.com/) for “Towards Euphoria” (March 2004).

For a complete list of Jeffrey's publications, please visit the cv area of his website at http://www.unco.edu/poetry/jeffrey.lee/html/cv.htm

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Critical Commentary

Review of The Sylph by Francis Alix.

A chapbook is a great way to experience a sampling of a poet’s work.  Mr. Lee compiled some of his earlier work inspired by Taoist meditation postures and Buddhist wisdom literature for this chapbook, his second poetry chapbook. His compilation was successful for it won him the 2002 Chapbook Competition of The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review and was published as an issue of that review.  He is a fine example of the diverse works the small press publishes and large press rarely publishes.

The poems are rooted in transpersonal states and romantic love.  He uses nature imagery frequently, as one would expect from his inspiration.  The poet explains ordinary things— breathing, walking, a pumping heart—with grace and visual acuity.  A few images, such as “liquid joy” and “green fire” eluded me, but his images are solid and sometimes startling as in “Breath (an epitaph)”—

Storm-sunken ships yield
no trophies and no wisdom
to oceans—like breaths also
scattered I must come and go—

Some poems are written in a “two-voiced lyric form” where one poem is placed opposite another on the same page and they speak to each other.  This creates an unusual harmony and contrast. It brings a welcome change from the average one-page-per-poem standard.

I look forward to his first full-length book, whenever that may be.  And, you should, too.  At six dollars, this chapbook is a gift not only for its craft, but its inspiration.

Review of Identity Papers CD by Dick Metcalf, archived at www.drimala.com

Our friends at Drimala Records always come up with exciting & challenging recordings.  Jeffrey's CD is no exception to that expectation!  Lee is a poet of strong substance... this particular outing serves to chronicle his impressions of experiences after he was assaulted in New York City.  He is joined (vocally) by Lori-Nan Engler & (percussively) by internationally renowned percussionist Toshi Makihara.  As you might imagine, this isn't "party music"... you must listen to the sensitive & gripping interaction between the vocals & Makihara's cymbals/drums.  The stories Jeffrey tells are not "60 Minutes" style... it is recommended that you block out an hour (or so) to sit down with headphones when you listen to this; if you do it that way, you'll find yourself immersed in Lee's experience.  I enjoyed this CD immensely - enough so to give it a MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for any listener who can/will take the time to absorb it.  A great music/poetry experience!

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Page last updated June 24, 2004
For page information,
contact Dr. Rita Jones (RitaJones@alum.albertson.edu)
or Dr. Robert King (rwendellking@yahoo.com)