Richard Allen Taylor
Richard Allen Taylor's poetry chapbook, Something to Read on the Plane, can be purchased at Barnes & Noble Arboretum and Park Road Books in Charlotte, NC or online at http://www.mainstreetrag.com.
RICHARD ALLEN TAYLOR discovered rather late in life that he wanted to be a poet. After flirting with poetry briefly in the 80's, he took up the pen again in 2001 and, at age 55, took several writing classes, got involved in the Charlotte "open mike" scene and began reading and writing poetry in earnest. Since then, dozens of his poems have appeared in various publications including Main Street Rag, Iodine Poetry Journal, Erete's Bloom, Wild Plum, Ibbetson Street, Thrift Poetic Arts Journal, Poems Neidergassen, Rattle, The Dead Mule, James River Poetry Review, Wild Goose Poetry Review, The Powhatan Review, South Carolina Review and several anthologies. His first poetry collection, Something to Read on the Plane, was judged by Main Street Rag as a runner up in its annual chapbook contest and was published in 2004. In March 2005, he was a featured poet at Central Piedmont Community College's annual literary festival. He frequently reviews poetry books for Main Street Rag.
Taylor usually writes free verse narrative poetry, often with a humorous twist that makes his work popular with live audiences. Fellow poet Henry Berne, Ph.D., (author of Night Dawns) describes Taylor as a poet with "a discerning eye and a great sense of humor, something like a cosmic wink, which doesn't overdo but which still insists on showing up."
Asked who his favorite poets are, Taylor named nationally known poets Peter Meinke, Billy Collins, Susan Ludvigson, Linda Pastan, Mark Doty and Kay Ryan, but quickly added that his list of “favorites” is expanding rapidly to include many poets in the Carolina’s whose work has appeared in the Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets.
As a co-editor of Kakalak, Taylor is delighted to join fellow editors Lisa Zerkle and Beth Cagle Burt in the opportunity to support other writers in pursuit of their goals and to advance the literary arts in the community. "In the nineteenth century, poetry was immensely popular with the American public," he said, "and it could be that way again, someday. Kakalak provides an opportunity for poets in the Carolinas to draw together as neighbors in a celebration of poetry, and provides another chance to get their work in front of readers."
Taylor is a native of Charlotte and a 1969 graduate of UNC Chapel Hill. In a business career spanning over 35 years, he has held various management positions in the manufacturing, transportation and retail automotive industries. He serves his current employer as a regional human resources manager with HR responsibility for a multi-state area. "But everywhere I've worked, once they found out I could write they put me in charge of the company newsletter--in addition to my 'real' job." His current assignment includes responsibility for managing a corporate magazine with nationwide circulation of over 6,000.
To read poetry by this artist, click on Richard's Poetry under Editors in the side bar.