Stuart Watson poetry collection launch

Smith is an editor and co-founder of the Abraxas Review literary magazine.

Written in reader-friendly vernacular free verse, poems in “Death is the Dismount” wrestle with familiar joys, struggles, regrets and rewards of life. Aging. Friendship. Surprising discoveries about one’s ancestry. The daily wonders of life in the Pacific Northwest. A gentle sense of humor about life’s absurdities insinuates itself into much of the work.

Watson first showed poetic promise as a college freshman in southern Oregon, studying with future Oregon Poet Laureate Lawson Inada. Another college literature professor, the late James Naiden, advised Watson to turn his professional focus to journalism, “unless you want to starve to death.”

During years with Pulitzer-winning newspapers in Medford, Anchorage and Portland, Watson was honored by Oregon’s newspaper association for the Best Writing during 1983. State and regional journalism organizations also honored him for his humorous essays.

All the while, he continued to write poetry and short fiction. After retirement from a late-life foray into the restaurant business with his wife, the novelist Kathy Watson, Watson turned his entire focus to short fiction and poetry. Covid was an unexpected blessing, forcing him to stay home where he could focus on the short story and verse.

His work is in more than a hundred (mostly) online publications. He was second place winner in the 2005 Cambridge Short Story Competition.

Watson is available for readings and other public appearances.

“Death is the Dismount” is available now for purchase in print from The Poetry Box (thepoetrybox.com/bookstore/death-dismount), at major online retailers and through local booksellers.