Keith Abbott BA, San Francisco State
MA, Western Washington State
Keith Kumasen Abbott teaches writing and art at Naropa University. Publications include the novels Gush, Rhino Ritz and Mordecai of Monterey, as well as the short story collections, Harum Scarum, The First Thing Coming and The French Girl. He wrote a memoir of Richard Brautigan, Downstream from Trout Fishing in America (Capra, 1989) and contributed to Richard Brautigan:Essays on the Writing and Life. (McFarland & Co, 2006) for which he chaired a symposium and contributed an essay. His essay “Rhythm-A-Ning: Philip Whalen’s Rhythmic Inventions” is reprinted in The Beats and Philosophy forthcoming from the University of Kentucky Press Popular Culture series. His essay “The Things I Used To Do” will appear in the forthcoming anthology, The Writing Workshop Model: Is It Still Working? (University of Pittsburg Press). For Western Literature Association’s October 2008 conference he presented, "Twisting in the Wind: A Memoir of Ken Kesey" about Kesey's Naropa workshop and also his play Twister, staged in Boulder July 4, 1994. His story “Spanish Castle” was optioned by Ziji Productions, and he co-wrote the screenplay; recently his novel Racer was shortlisted for the Berlinale Film Conference 2007. His latest poetry book was Next Door to Samsara (Fell Swoop, 2005) and his poems appeared in the recent anthologies Saints of Hysteria (Soft Skull, 2006) and Rimbaud Après Rimbaud (Except Collection Textual, 2004). His art/calligraphy appear in Shambhala Sun and Buddhadharma magazines and in group and/or solo shows in San Francisco, Denver, Boulder, Shanghai, Seoul and San Antonio.
