Robert Stewart
Editor
Assistant Research Professor
Adjunct Graduate Faculty
222 University House
816.235.2610
stewartr@umkc.edu
Office Hours: By Appointment

Robert Stewart is editor of New Letters magazine, New Letters on the Air, a nationally syndicated literary radio program, and BkMk Press at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he also teaches poetry writing, nonfiction writing, and magazine editing.  In 2008, he was awarded the National Magazine Award for Editing in the category of the Essay, by the American Society of Magazine Editors.  His books include Outside Language: Essays (Helicon Nine Editions, a finalist in the PEN Center USA Literary Awards for 2004; and winner of the 2004 Thorpe Menn Award), Plumbers (poems, BkMk Press), and others.  He is co-editor of the collection New American Essays (New Letters/BkMk Press, 2006).  Poems have appeared in Denver Quarterly, Poetry Northwest, Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, Stand, Notre Dame Review, Literary Review and other magazines.  Anthology editorships include Spud Songs: An Anthology of Potato Poems (benefit for hunger relief), Voices From the Interior, The Writer & Religeon (co-editor), and Decade: Modern American Poets.

Degrees:

• M.A., English, University of Missouri-Kansas City
• B.A., English, University of Missouri-St. Louis

Areas of Specialization:

• Magazine/Book Editing and Publishing
• Literary Nonfiction Writing
• Article Writing
• Poetry Writing.

Research & Teaching Interests:

A literature that can account for the commonplace miracle.

Awards & Citations:

• National Magazine Award 2008, for editorial excellence.
• Finalist, PEN Center USA Award for Nonfiction, 2004.
• Thorpe Menn Award for Literary Excellence.
• Best Feature Article, National Association of Business Publications.
• Poetry Award, Wesleyan University Writing Conference.
• Scholar, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference.
  
• PEN Syndicated Fiction Award.
• Pushcart Prize nominations nine times.
• Pushcart Prize Poetry Special Mention.

Courses:

• Magazine Editing, English 5501:  publication management, copy editing, nonfiction writing, and article evaluation.
• Nonfiction Writing, English 5502:  how to write nonfiction that will stand out and hold up.
• Poetry Writing, English 315 and 435.
• Mark Twain Writers Workshop, annual three-week courses in creative writing, held in June, co-director and instructor.
• New Letters Writing Conference, English 438, held one weekend each year in June, for one, two, or three college credits, or noncredit, director.
• Publication Practicum, English 449A, section 0001, internships at New Letters magazine and BkMk Press, limit three students per semester, including summers.

Other:

• New Letters, international magazine of writing and art, www.newletters.org (see Kansas City Literary Events Calendar, information on writing conferences, internships, more).
• University House, home of New Letters, BkMk Press, New Letters on the Air, the resource library of literary magazines and books, and other resources for creative writers.  Students, faculty, and members of the community welcome.
• www.newletters.org/Stewart.asp