Geoffrey Bankowski

Words saved me. Long ago, studying political theory as an undergraduate, I was stunned by anyone who could not just think in profound and complex ways but also organize and articulate such intelligence clearly for another—philosophy, psychology, history, science. I also fell for poetry and literature: careful, elegant, powerful language and storytelling with which to explore and articulate complex human emotion. This caused a shift of priorities and I went on to get an MFA in poetry at the University of Michigan.

Since then, for more than twenty years as a passionate teacher of writing (University of Michigan, CUNY, Hunter College), writer, reader, and editor, I've explored and practiced the ways in which writing helps us discover, clarify and organize ideas, articulate complexity, and even come to further understand ourselves, others, and the environments in which we live.