Poet Stephen Cramer is a wordsmith who feels rhythms in his poems and conveys them through his words and subjects. Shiva’s Drum, Bone Music, From the Hip: A Concise History of Hip Hop (in sonnets), City Full of Fireworks and Blues, Tongue & Groove are a sampling of his books of poetry. In addition, he edited Turn It Up! Music in Poetry from Jazz to Hip-Hop, a 3-part, 400-page, 35-poet anthology which demonstrates the sounds in music in its phrasing.

On Monday, March 11, 2024, at 12pm noon, Cramer will present a master class entitled Diction and Sound in Poetry. He will explain poetry as a spoken artform focusing on lively, descriptive words that create sounds. The venue for the class is the Gerry Forum 010 in the Rowley Center for Science and Engineering. This event while it is geared to students, is free and open to the whole college community as well as the community-at-large.

Stephen Cramer has published ten booksâ€"his latest coming out this weekâ€"and has seen his poetry in journals such as The American Poetry Review, African American Review, The Yale Review, and Harvard Review. His first book of poems, Shiva’s Drum, was selected for the National Poetry Series. Bone Music received the Louise Bogan Award for Artistic Merit and Excellence. He has been further honored by being nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and being a finalist for a Balcones Poetry Prize. He was awarded the Creation Grant from the Vermont Arts Council as well as the Vermont Book Award and the Alice M. Sellers Award from the Academy of American Poets. Cramer also was the co-translator of A Jar of Moon Air: Selected Poems of Jaime Sabines.

Presently a senior lecturer in the English Department at the University of Vermont where he teaches literature and writing, he is also assistant poetry editor at Green Mountains Review. His collections of poetry reflect music and rhythm. Originally from western Orange County and for a while a resident of NYC, he now resides in Burlington, VT.

Stephen Cramer earned a BA from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA, and an MA in creative writing from City College New York (CCNY).

The Rowley Center for Science & Engineering (RCSE) is located at GPS: 10 East Conkling Avenue, Middletown. Find free parking in the garage at 3 East Conkling Avenue or in lot #1 at 24 Grandview Avenue.

Questions may be addressed to Cultural Affairs at cultural@sunyorange.edu.