Larry R. Brooks



In the past, I have been an English teacher, cook, janitor, typist, farmer,
pro bowler, and poet.

I have a classical education in the arts with a BSE in English, an MA in
English with an emphasis on British literature, especially the poets, and
an MFA in creative writing.  I have a total of 235 college credits and will
probably get more before I die.  I love going to school and learning.

Publications:  In the last three years:

Poetry (1997): Mind Purge, Malevolence, State, George & Mertie's Place,
Nite-Writer's Int. Lit. Arts Journal, Parnassus Literary Journal,
The Poet's Attic, Pacific Coast Journal, Mobius

Poetry (1998):    Fauquier Poetry Journal, George & Mertie's Place, Red
Owl Magazine, tight, Lynx, Axe Factory Review, Anthology Magazine, Up
Dare?, Mojo Risin' Magazine, Parnassus Literary Journal, The Open Bone,
American Tanka, Neologism, Poetry Motel, Blind Man's Rainbow, The Poet's
Page, etcetera, Atom Mind, Poetalk, Emotions

Poetry for 1999: frisson, Footprints, Pacific Coast Journal, Four-Sep,
Connecticut River Review, Amelia

Prose:  book reviews, essays on education

Travel:  England, Germany, France, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait,
Liberia, Egypt, Singapore, Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand, India, Nepal,
Mexico, Brazil, Japan
Hobbies:  writing, computing, reading, traveling, chess

I was born in Kansas, educated in various universities in the sixties. 
I've been writing poetry for thirty years with some degrees of success.  I
currently live in Japan, where I work and study.  I am a secular humanist,
and I believe that man's problems will be solved by science, and that
wisdom can only come from critical inquiry.  I love poetry as a hobby and
as a wonderful means to express personal beliefs.  I post poem on the
Internet to see how they work for others.  Then I re-write based on input I
get from various sources, including Dove's Nest, which I return to despite
the occasional personal attacks, because there are some good poets here who
genuinely want to improve, as I do, and can take criticism like an adult.  
I believe we can only improve our writing if we are willing to listen to
criticism with an open mind.