Scott Owens

Most of his creative and critical work has been completed while living in Hickory, North Carolina, and teaching at Lenoir Rhyne University and Catawba Valley Community College where, in 2013, he was recognized with the "Adjunct Excellence in Teaching Award."

Owens' poems have been nominated for nine Pushcart Prizes and seven Best of the Net Awards, and received awards from the Academy of American Poets, the North Carolina Poetry Society, the Poetry Society of South Carolina, the Next Generation Indie Awards, and the North Carolina Writer's Network. His poem, "So Norman Died of Course,"received a Special Mention from the Pushcart Prize Anthology for 2009 and "On the Days I Am Not My Father," "Cleaning House," "The Arrival of the Past," and "Rails" were featured on Garrison Keillor's The Writer's Almanac. His more than 1400 published poems have appeared in a diverse range of journals, including Georgia Review, North American Review, Poetry East, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Cimarron Review, Greensboro Review, Chattahoochee Review, Cream City Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, and Cottonwood, among others. More than 100 of his essays and reviews have appeared in Main Street Rag, The Pilot, Pirene's Fountain, and many others. He has spoken about poetry or shared his work on NPR, Tedx, several radio shows and podcasts, and at more than 200 public readings at universities, libraries, and conferences. His essays on poetry have appeared multiple times in Poets Market.

He is the founder of the reading series, Poetry Hickory (2007 - ), and the University Community Poetry Series (2016 - 2018), editor of "Wild Goose Poetry Review," and a writer of reviews of poetry collections and articles about writing. He has also been author of the poetry column, "Musings," published in Outlook, founding editor of 234, Associate Editor of Southern Poetry Review, Vice President of the Poetry Council of NC and the NC Poetry Society, and Founder of The Art of Poetry at the Hickory Museum of Art. He has taught creativity, writing, and poetry workshops at various schools, conferences, and conventions throughout the Southeast, most recently at Lenoir Rhyne University. He has also served as a judge for numerous poetry contests and been on the board of various reading series. Owens is recognized as a proponent of and community organizer for poetry.

Scott Owens (born 1963) is an American poet, teacher, and editor living in Hickory, North Carolina.