James Meetze is an American poet, publisher, singer and songwriter. He is the recipient of the 2001 Poet Laureate Award from the University of California

University of California

The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...

 and a founding member of the now defunct poetry movement, the New Brutalism. Meetze's poetry has been published in three chapbooks, numerous journals and two anthologies.

His first full-length collection, I Have Designed This For You, was published by Editions Assemblage in 2007, and his second collection, Dayglo, was selected by Terrance Hayes as the winner of the 2010 Sawtooth Poetry Prize from Ahsahta Press. His chapbook

Chapbook

A chapbook is a pocket-sized booklet. The term chap-book was formalized by bibliophiles of the 19th century, as a variety of ephemera , popular or folk literature. It includes many kinds of printed material such as pamphlets, political and religious tracts, nursery rhymes, poetry, folk tales,...

s are Serenades (Cy Press, 2003), Instrument (Sea.Lamb.Press., 2004), and It's Overhead (Fashionably Pressed, 2007). He currently works as a Lecturer in the Creative Writing Program at California State University, San Marcos

California State University, San Marcos

California State University San Marcos is a public, coeducational university and one of the 23 general campuses of the California State University system. located in San Marcos, California, a suburban town in north San Diego County. It was founded in 1989 as the 20th CSU campus and was the first...

. Meetze is co-editor, with Simon Pettet, of Other Flowers: Uncollected Poems by James Schuyler (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010). He also fronts the shoegaze band, Dreamtiger, whose EP Glisten was released in 2008. Their sound has been compared to Slowdive

Slowdive

Slowdive were an English shoegaze band that formed in 1989. The band formed in Reading, Berkshire and primarily consisted of Nick Chaplin , Rachel Goswell , Neil Halstead , and Christian Savill...

, Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins

Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...

 and Lush

Lush

-People:* Archibald Lush, a Welsh school inspector* Billy Lush, an American actor* David Lush, Canadian politician* Ernie Lush, American Baseball player* Jay Laurence Lush, an American geneticist* Jane Lush, a British worker...

.

In 2002, Meetze founded the small press Tougher Disguises

Tougher Disguises

Tougher Disguises is a publisher of experimental poetry, based in San Diego, California. It was founded by poet James Meetze in 2002, publishing small letterpress editions by a pair of established poets, Peter Gizzi and Clark Coolidge....

, which has published experimental poets such as Peter Gizzi

Peter Gizzi

Peter Gizzi is an award-winning American poet and renowned editor of the American poet Jack Spicer. He attended Brown University, New York University and the State University of New York at Buffalo.-Life and career:...

, Clark Coolidge

Clark Coolidge

Clark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island.Often associated with the Language School, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop, weather, Salvador Dalí, Jack Kerouac, and movies--- often finds...

, and K. Silem Mohammad.