About
Scott Minar is Professor Emeritus of English at Ohio University—essayist, poet, songwriter, and performing musician.
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He has won a few teaching awards, taught internationally at Memorial University (St. John’s, Newfoundland), and collaborated with scholars and writers in the U.S., Sweden, Syria, Israel, England, Norway, and elsewhere. His essays, books, and poems have been published in English, Arabic, Swedish, and Hebrew. His books include Arctic Accordion: Selected Poems, Gilgamesh and Other Poems (English version), Cymbalism, and The Palace of Reasons (all by Mammoth Books/Dubois, PA). Cymbalism and Gilgamesh and Other Poems were translated into Arabic by Dr. Saleh Razzouk of the University of Aleppo and published by Linda Books (Al Sweida, Syria).
His textbooks/exercise books include Exercises for Poets: Double Bloom (with Edward Dougherty), published by Pearson; The Working Poet, by Autumn House Press (Pittsburgh); and The Working Poet II, by Mammoth Books. Scott's first book of essays—Lunch at Mark Twain's Grave—will be published by Mammoth Books in 2023.
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He is most proud of his work in helping—along with the late Professor Göran Malmqvist of The Swedish Academy—to introduce American readers to the poetry of Ingela Strandberg: Sweden’s Bellman Prize-winning poet, a celebrated writer in her own country and elsewhere. Minar also assisted Dr. Saleh Razzouk of The University of Aleppo and Dr. Philip Terman (Clarion University, retired) in introducing the poetry of Syrian writers Riad Saleh Hussein, Linda Abdel Baki, and Iman Chahin Sharba to American readers. He continues this work and collaborates in translating Dr. Razzouk's short stories and publishing these in the United States and elsewhere.
A few writers have offered kind remarks about Minar’s writing. Former Poet Laureate Mark Strand said of Minar’s essay about his book Man and Camel, “This is one of the best things written about me.” When nominating him for a Pushcart Prize, Joyce Carol Oates wrote of Minar’s poetry, “His work is a remarkable find.”
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Scott's musical friends and collaborators include Athens-based songwriter and teacher Bruce Dalzell; the impeccable Jack Sowers; the amazing Nevada Hart; regional treasure and Nashville-based singer-songwriter Kim Richey; the 1980's band The Kings of Hollywood (of which Scott was a founding member, along with Dalzell and T. Craig Goodwin); the fabulous Barry Hunn; producer/impresario Keith Newman; the hilarious Adam Simon; and many more. He has shared stages with Richard Thompson, Jonathon Edwards, Kim, Elmira New York's John Manfredi, and a host of others over the last five decades. He continues to write songs today and occasionally teaches songwriting with his partner, Bruce Dalzell.
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