Joseph Kerschbaum is a poet and spoken word artist based in Bloomington, Indiana. He has published 9 books of poetry and two spoken word albums.
Joseph has performed at numerous venues around the country. He has been a featured performer at festivals such as the Bucktown Arts Fest, the Etheridge Knight Festival of the Arts, and Heartland Incantations. This reading series celebrates Hoosier poets. He has been the captain of the Bloomington Poetry Slam and competed in the Midwest Poetry Slam League.
Joseph was 1/4 of the bombastic touring group, The Reservoir Dogwoods. The Reservoir Dogwoods is a collective of 4 Hoosier poets who tour the Midwest extensively. And they happen to be some of Joseph’s favorite people.
Joseph has been awarded the Greer Foundation Fellowship for Creative Writing from the Bloomington Area Arts Council for the completion of his book Dead Stars Have No Graves. Joseph has also been awarded an Individual Artistic Grant from The Indiana Arts Commission and The National Endowment for the Arts.
Many of Joseph’s poems have appeared in journals and magazines nationwide (Street Cake Magazine, The Dallas Review, Heimat Review, Wild Roof Journal, Trampoline, Hamilton Stone Review). Joseph has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes and Best of the Net prizes. And he was a finalist for the Ruth Lilly Endowment from the Poetry Foundation.
Joseph has taught poetry workshops at the John Waldron Arts Center and Ivy Tech College.
Joseph lives in Bloomington, Indiana with his family.
Publications:
Midnight Sunrise (forthcoming in 2024!)
Mirror Box (2020)
Distant Shores of a Split Second (2018)
Ken: a man for all seasons (2013)
Your Casual Survival (2010)
The Handless Long for Sign Language (2009)
Our Voices Sound Like Silence (2008)
Dead Stars Have No Graves (2006)
The Composer Steps into the Fire (2004)
1 of 29 (2003)
The Human Remains (2002)