Alan Soldofsky is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, Soldofsky has published three books of poetry and has seen his work appear in many literary magazine

Literary magazine

A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry and essays along with literary criticism, book reviews, biographical profiles of authors, interviews and letters...

s.

Soldofsky’s published collections of poetry are Kenora Station and Staying Home. A third collection, Holding Adam/My Father’s Books, includes poems written by his son, Adam Soldofsky.

Soldofsky’s poems have appeared in The Nation

The Nation

The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...

, The North American Review, Antioch Review

Antioch Review

The Antioch Review is an American literary magazine established in 1941 at Antioch College in Ohio. One of the oldest continuously published literary magazines in the United States, it publishes fiction, essays and poetry from both emerging and established authors.The magazine continues to publish...

, Blue Mesa Review, Poetry East, The Georgia Review, The Gettysburg Review

The Gettysburg Review

The Gettysburg Review is a quarterly literary magazine featuring short stories, poetry, essays and reviews. Work appearing in the magazine often is reprinted in "best-of" anthologies and receives awards....

, The Greensboro Review, Grand Street

Grand Street

Grand Street was an American magazine which appeared from 1981 to 2004. It was described by the New York Times as "one of the most revered literary magazines of the postwar era."-Founding:...

, The Michigan Quarterly Review and many other noted journals. Three of his poems have been nominated for the prestigious Pushcart Prize

Pushcart Prize

The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....

. His critical essays and reviews have appeared in The Writer’s Chronicle, Narrative, Quarry West, Ironwood, and Chelsea.

After his graduation from the Iowa Writers' Workshop

Iowa Writers' Workshop

The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...

, Soldofsky became at a young age a contributing editor to Poetry Flash

Poetry Flash

Poetry Flash is a literary magazine and website based in the San Francisco Bay Area; it has been called "an institution in the Bay Area's literary culture". It publishes literary reviews, poetry, interviews, and essays as well as an extensive calendar of literary activities on the west coast of...

. In 1985 he joined the faculty at San Jose State University

San José State University

San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...

 as professor of English and Comparative Literature. While at SJSU, he has directed the SJSU Center for Literary Arts and well as the San Jose Poetry Center.

In addition to teaching literature courses and creative writing

Creative writing

Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...

, Soldofsky currently directs the SJSU Creative Writing Program, where he is known for choosing and mentoring those students in all genre

Genre

Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...

s who are likely to have successful careers as published book authors.