Called by David Bottoms, “one of our finest spiritual poets,” Michael Sowder, long-time yoga practitioner, poet, scholar, essayist, and former Buddhist, writes about wilderness, fatherhood, yoga, Buddhism, and spirituality. He is a professor of English and an Affiliated Faculty Member in the Yoga Studies and Religious Studies programs at Utah State University, and teaches yoga philosophy at Transcend Yoga Studio, in Logan.
Trained in the late 1970s as a yoga and meditation teacher in the Tantrik Yoga tradition, Ananda Marga, he has been a lifelong student of the world’s contemplative and mystical spiritual traditions.
His Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Michigan became his book, Whitman’s Ecstatic Union (Routledge UP), which explores the poetry of Walt Whitman within the context of religious experience and mystical discourse in nineteenth-century American religion.
He is the founder of Amrita Yoga, a nonprofit organization dedicated to exploring and teaching the practices of yoga and other wisdom traditions. Amrita Yoga offers regular yoga and meditation evenings and teaches yoga, meditation, and poetry writing at retreats, and in schools, jails, and prisons.
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Michael Sowder is available for talks, poetry readings, workshops, and for leading retreats focused on yoga, meditation, spirituality, creativity, and writing. Contact him at: michael.sowder@usu.edu. IG: @michaelsowderyogi
House Under the Moon
Sowder’s new collection of poetry.
“Through transcendent, lyric verse, these poems explore the spiritual struggle for harmony between the contemporary and contemplative life.”
Although these powerful poems are poems of the world, they are also poems of the spirit. Michael Sowder is a rarity among the poets of his generation—indeed, among the poets of any generation. He is a seeker, a searcher after meaning, a yearner for consequence. He knows that the secret message of poetry is connection, and he knows that to turn inward and find the spirit is also to discover the spirit moving through the world. These graceful and stirring poems make those magical connections. Sowder has matured into one of our finest spiritual poets. This is a book of deep and lasting beauty. – David Bottoms
House Under the Moon is available from Truman State University Press, Amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
The Empty Boat
Chosen by Diane Wakoski for the T.S. Eliot Award
“Here is the poetry of earth Keats claimed is never dead; it thrives in Michael Sowder’s vivid imagination, where crows, stars, rivers, and lovers cohabit in dynamic and rapturous connections.” – Laurence Goldstein
“This earthy yet elegant poet is a true heir to all the exciting poetry of the 20th century. He takes the crow myth of Ted Hughes and the wish for Electra’s retribution in Plath, creating his own personal mythology out of American reclamation and spiritual revelation.” Diane Wakoski
Also available at Truman State University Press, Amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.
