Where You Want To Be: New And Selected Poems - Softcover

Poetry. "This is a poet unafraid of being understood, who will not hide behind decorativeness or the oblique. Read these poems aloud and you will hear an authentic and quintessentially American voice not only writing but also speaking to you."—Thomas Lux

"I take guilty pleasure in the poems of Kevin Pilkington, and consider him an essential voice in contemporary poetry."—Jay Parini

"In this rich collection of tender poems, he celebrates the small consolations of daily life that offer spiritual relief in the face of disappointment and loss. There are no easy epiphanies here-just one poet working as hard as he can to get through daily life with dignity and grace."—Jim Daniels

Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of six poetry collections: Spare Change (1997) was the La Jolla Poets Press National Book Award winner; Ready to Eat the Sky (River City Press, 2004) was a finalist for an Independent Publishers Books Award; IN THE EYES OF A DOG (NYQ Books, 2009) won the 2011 New York Book Festival Award and THE UNEMPLOYED MAN WHO BECAME A TREE (Black Lawrence Press, 2011) was a Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award finalist. WHERE YOU WANT TO BE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS (Black Lawrence Press, 2016) is his latest collection. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies including: Birthday Poems: A Celebration, Western Wind, and Contemporary Poetry of New England.

Over the years, he has been nominated for four Pushcarts. His poems have appeared in magazines including The Harvard Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Boston Review, Yankee, Hayden's Ferry, Columbia and North American Review. He has taught and lectured at numerous colleges and universities, including The New School, Manhattanville College, MIT, University of Michigan, Susquehanna University, Saint Vincent College. His debut novel Summer Shares was published by ArcheBooks Publishing in 2012 and a paperback edition was reissued in summer 2014. He recently completed a second novel and is working on a new collection of poems.