Ben W. Howard (born 1944 in Iowa), Emeritus Professor of English at Alfred University, is an American poet, essayist, scholar, and critic. He is the author of eleven books, including three collections of essays on Zen practice, six collections of poems, a verse novella, and a critical study of modern Irish writing. From 1973-2000, he served as a regular reviewer for Poetry. Over the past four decades, he has contributed more than 250 poems, essays, and reviews to leading journals in North America and abroad, including Poetry, Shenandoah, Poetry Ireland Review, Agenda, and the Sewanee Review. Until his retirement in 2006, he taught courses in literature and writing and an Honors course in Buddhist meditation at Alfred University. He also taught classical guitar and often performed in faculty recitals. Since 1998 he has led the Falling Leaf Sangha, a Rinzai Zen practice group in Alfred, New York. He has also offered guest lectures and conducted meditative retreats at the Olean Meditation Center in Olean, New York. "One Time, One Meeting," his monthly column, explores aspects of Zen practice. Bibliography Books Immovable Awareness: The Intimate Practice of Zen, Whitlock Publishing, 2016 Firewood and Ashes: New and Selected Poems, Salmon Poetry, 2015 The Backward Step: Essays on Zen Practice, Whitlock Publishing, 2014 Entering Zen, Whitlock Publishing, 2011 Leaf, Sunlight, Asphalt, Salmon Publishing,2009 Dark Pool, Salmon Publishing, 2004 Midcentury, Salmon Publishing, 1997 The Pressed Melodeon: Essays on Modern Irish Writing, Story Line Press, 1996 Lenten Anniversaries: Poems 1982–1989, Cummington Press,1990 Northern Interior: Poems 1975–1982, Cummington Press, 1986 Father of Waters: Poems 1965–1976, University of Nebraska: Abattoir Editions, 1979 Inclusion in anthologies Open-Eyed, Full-Throated: An Anthology of American / Irish Poets, Arlen House, 2019 If Ever You Go: A Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song, Dedalus Press, 2014 The Book of Irish American Poetry, University of Notre Dame Press, 2007 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, Random House, 2005 The POETRY Anthology: 1912–2002, Ivan R. Dee, 2002 A Green Place:Modern Poems, Delacorte, 1982. The POETRY Anthology: 1912–1977, Houghton Mifflin, 1978 Strong Measures: Contemporary American Poetry in Traditional Form, Longman, 1997 Reviews About The Backward Step, Roshi Joan Halifax, Abbot of the Upaya Center, has written: "Wise and true, this wonderful book transmits the essence of practice realization." Reviewing Firewood and Ashes: New and Selected Poems in Poetry Northwest (December 17, 2015), Adam Tavel observes that this collection "displays the poet's lyrical sonorousness,