Poet Profile

Barry George

Barry George writes haiku, senryu, and tanka, as well as longer lyrical and dramatic poetry. A graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, Duke Law School, and Spalding University’s Brief-residency MFA in Writing program, he lives and teaches in Philadelphia.

Awards and Other Honors: First Prize, The Haiku Society of America's Gerald Brady Memorial Award (2009); Winner, AWP Intro Poetry Award (2009); Winner, Tanka Splendor Contest (2007, 2008); Second Prize, Mainichi Daily News Annual Contest (2003); Honorable Mentions in Anita Sadler Weiss Contest (2007), Kaji Aso Studio Contest (2002, 2005), Betty Drevniok Award (2004), and World Haiku Association Contest (2002). Poems included in Streetlights: Poetry of Modern Life in Modern English Tanka (Modern English Tanka Press, 2009), The New Haiku (Snapshot Press, 2002), A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices in English Language Haiku (Red Moon Press, 2001), and various issues of the Red Moon Press “best of year” series. MFA Poetry Faculty’s Nominee for the Eileen Abrams Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Spalding University (2010).

Books Published: Wrecking Ball and Other Urban Haiku (Accents Publishing, 2010).

my nephew's fastball—
I hand back his glove
and keep the sting

park statue—
the French general bowing
to dandelions

dogwoods in blossom—
the death of a racehorse
ends the evening news

the stylist
rinses away
the sound of her voice

floodlit sky—
the wrecking ball swings
in and out of darkness

autumn night—
the moon at the window
of the space museum

Credits: "my nephew's fastball" - bottle rockets 11 (2004); "dogwoods in blossom" - Modern Haiku 31:3 (2002); "floodlit sky" - The Heron’s Nest 3:3 (2001); "park statue" - haijinx 2:2 (2001); "the stylist" - First Place, The Haiku Society of America's Gerald Brady Memorial Award (2009); Frogpond 33:1 (2010); "autumn night" - The Heron’s Nest 7:1 (2005).