Bill

Named in honor of Cmdr. William Barker Cushing, a Civil War Naval hero, I grew up in New York City but lived in various states, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico before moving to California where I now live in Glendale with my wife and our son.

As a "returning" undergrad at the University of Central Florida, I was called the “blue collar” poet because of my earlier years both serving in the U. S. Navy and later working as an electrician on oil tankers, naval vessels, and fishing boats. Later, I earned an MFA in writing from Goddard College in Vermont.

Named one of the Top Ten L. A. Poets of 2017, I have four published books of poetry: A Former Life (honored with a Kops Fetherling International Book Award), Music Speaks (winning chapbook in the San Gabriel Valley Poetry Festival and honored with a New York City Book Award), . . .this just in. . ., and Just a Little Cage of Bone (American Writing Award finalist).

Other titles include The Commies Come to Waterton (short stories), Time Well Spent (a collection of personal recollections), and most recently Heroic Brothers of the Civil War, which won a Global Literary Award for historic nonfiction.

I have creative non-fiction pieces in Cargo Literary, ‘Merica Magazine, OLIT, Rivanna Review, The Song Is, and The Thing Itself. My short stories have appeared in Borfski Press and Newtown Literary Journal. I have also published poetry, reviews, essays, and articles in various publications and anthologies both in print and online.

Retiring in 2020 after over 23 years teaching English and writing at East Los Angeles, Mt. San Antonio, and Pasadena City colleges as well as DeVry University, I continue writing, reading, and teaching an occasional class.

Upcoming projects include The Beast Inside, a new collection poems, and Counting Down the Breaths, a memoir that focuses on my late wife's ordeal with cancer.