Curtis L. Crisler received an MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and is an Associate Professor of English at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFWW), where he received a BA in English with a minor in Theatre. Crisler is the author of numerous books for adults and young adults. He has received fellowships and grants from Cave Canem, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), and the Indiana Arts Commission. Crisler's poems have appeared in Atticus Review, Copper Nickel, Deleware Poetry Review, Pluck, and elsewhere.

Books by Curtis L. Crisler:

Other poems on the web by Curtis L. Crisler:
"For You (Mr. Nelson)"
Two poems
"chromatics)"

Curtis L. Crisler's Website.

About THe GReY aLBuM:

"In his book THe GReY aLBuM [PoeMS] Curtis L. Crisler brings us back to the place all true poetry begins: the heart of mystery and courage and words that whisper and dance and scream like no words you've heard. In these poems about the past and the present, black lives and white lives, suffering and joy, he sings in a voice we seldom hear anymore but need to hear again and again. This is a book you will care with you-wherever you go, however you get there. "
—John Guzlowski

"Slip on headphones, and let Curtis L. Crisler's THe GReY aLBuM twirl on the turn-table. Boxing Arethas will revolt, then Prince and Richard Pryor will reappear, followed by a 'tableau of actors in musicals for the dead.' Color of Gary steel, color of smoke: Curtis leads us to where 'the air's so thick with sixteenths' that Bix and Louis will play again in living rooms beyond the reach of Jim Crow's dreadful binaries. This soundtrack's an exorcism for our times."
—Karen Kovacik

"Curtis L. Crisler sings a midwestern blues filled with Mama's cake batter and ashy legs, boomboxes and T-ball. Walking through these pages, I swear I could hear the music of the streetlights turning on, telling me to get home before dark. Curtis' poems live in the dark - and they capture the scent of laughter and tears like lightneing bugs in a mason jar. Open these pages and drink in the light."
—Tyehimba Jess