Richard Chess
Professor Emeritus, UNC Asheville
Biography
Richard Chess is the author of five books of poetry: The Loneliest Monk (Orison Books, 2026); Love Nailed to the Doorpost (University of Tampa Press, 2017); Tekiah (University of Georgia Press, 1996; republished by University of Tampa Press, 2000); Chair in the Desert (University of Tampa Press, 2000); and Third Temple (University of Tampa Press, 2006). His poems have been anthologized in Telling and Remembering: A Century of American Jewish Poetry, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry, Bearing Witness: Twenty Years of Image Journal, and elsewhere. His work has also been included in Best American Spiritual Writing 2005. His essays have been included in Stars Shall Bend Their Voices: Poets’ Favorite Hymns and Spiritual Songs, 27 Views of Asheville, Far from the Center of Ambition, and elsewhere. He is a regular contributor to Close Reading, the blog hosted by Slant Books. He was a member of the core arts faculty at the Brandeis Bardin Institute for three years, after which he was on the faculty of the Jewish Arts Institute at Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center. He is Professor Emeritus at UNC Asheville. He directed UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies for thirty years. He also played a leading role in UNC Asheville’s contemplative inquiry initiative. He is a founding board member of Yetzirah.
Published Works
Love Nailed to the Doorpost (University of Tampa Press, 2017)
Third Temple (University of Tampa Press, 2007)
Chair in the Desert (University of Tampa Press, 2000)
Tekiah (University of Georgia Press, 1994; reissued by University of Tampa Press, 2002)
Links to Sample Works
- Verse Daily, “I Lied”
- POETRY, “Growing Up in a Jewish Neighborhood”
- Image Journal, “When God Dreamed Eve through Adam”
