Kevin Rabas
Encyclopedia
Kevin Rabas is an American poet
who is the author of two collections of poetry, including Lisa's Flying Electric Guitar, the winner of the 2010 Kansas Notable Book Award by the Great Plains Center for the Book. He is co-director of the Creative Writing Program at Emporia State University
, co-editor of Flint Hills Review, a literary magazine, and is a winner of the Langston Hughes Award for Poetry. In addition to teaching and writing, he performs regularly with musicians, combining his poetry with jazz and funk music. A trained and experienced jazz musician, specializing in most in percussion and drumming, Rabas cites music as an early and constant influence in his poetry.
His poetry and short stories have been published or is forthcoming in I-70 Review, Connecticut Review, Eclipse, Hawaii Pacific Review, Spindrift, Outsider Writers, Thorny Locust, Coal City Review, Sheridan Edwards Review, Laurel Review, Event, Connoli Pie, Present Magazinee, Cottonwood Review, Mid-America Review, seveneightfive, Nimrod and numerous other publications. His poetry recordings include Last Road Trip, a jazz poetry CD featuring Rabas reading original poetry and drumming, with Josh Schlar on saxophone, produced in 2002. A playwright also, Rabas's work includes "Elizabeth," a full production staged at the North Park Playwright Festival in San Diego, Oct. 1-3, 2010; full production of "Elves," EMU Theatre, Lawrence Arts Center, May 29 and 30 and June 5 & 6, 2009; and publication of the play "After the Head Injury: A Dialogue" in Kansas English His creative non-fiction story, "Play Out," was published in Jazz Ambassador Magazine
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...
who is the author of two collections of poetry, including Lisa's Flying Electric Guitar, the winner of the 2010 Kansas Notable Book Award by the Great Plains Center for the Book. He is co-director of the Creative Writing Program at Emporia State University
Emporia State University
Emporia State University is a university in the city of Emporia in Lyon County, Kansas, just east of the Flint Hills.- History :...
, co-editor of Flint Hills Review, a literary magazine, and is a winner of the Langston Hughes Award for Poetry. In addition to teaching and writing, he performs regularly with musicians, combining his poetry with jazz and funk music. A trained and experienced jazz musician, specializing in most in percussion and drumming, Rabas cites music as an early and constant influence in his poetry.
Education
Dr. Rabas received his Ph.D. in English from the University of Kansas in 2007; his dissertation is title Against Gravity: Last Road Trip (poems) and Sidewalk Drum (a play): A Creative Dissertation. He also received a MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College in 2002, a MA in English from Kansas State University with an emphasis in Creative Writing in 1998, and a BA in English, with an emphasis in Creative Writing and Journalism from the University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1995.Recognition & awards
His writing has garnered numerous award. Lisa's Flying Electric Piano won the Nelson Poetry Book Award from the Kansas Authors Club and was a finalist in the Sr. Madeleine Kisner Prize in Poetry from Newman University. Three of his poems -- "Bird's Horn," "Artt Frank's Speed Bag" and "Eden, or Lucas, Kansas" -- were nominated for the Pushcard Prize by Brian Daldorph, Coal City Review. He won the Langston Hughes Poetry Award from the Lawrence Arts Centerhttp://www2.ljworld.com/news/2005/jan/30/writing_award_goes/>, the Kansas Voices Award in 2005 and 2007, and the New Voice Award from the Salina Poetry Series in 2003.His poetry and short stories have been published or is forthcoming in I-70 Review, Connecticut Review, Eclipse, Hawaii Pacific Review, Spindrift, Outsider Writers, Thorny Locust, Coal City Review, Sheridan Edwards Review, Laurel Review, Event, Connoli Pie, Present Magazinee, Cottonwood Review, Mid-America Review, seveneightfive, Nimrod and numerous other publications. His poetry recordings include Last Road Trip, a jazz poetry CD featuring Rabas reading original poetry and drumming, with Josh Schlar on saxophone, produced in 2002. A playwright also, Rabas's work includes "Elizabeth," a full production staged at the North Park Playwright Festival in San Diego, Oct. 1-3, 2010; full production of "Elves," EMU Theatre, Lawrence Arts Center, May 29 and 30 and June 5 & 6, 2009; and publication of the play "After the Head Injury: A Dialogue" in Kansas English His creative non-fiction story, "Play Out," was published in Jazz Ambassador Magazine