Joe Amato

Joe Amato (born in Syracuse, New York, and raised in the metro area) is an American writer best known for his poetry and his work in poetics. A licensed Professional Engineer in New York State, Amato spent seven years in industry working in various project engineering capacities before returning to graduate school. He holds degrees in mathematics and mechanical engineering from Syracuse University (B.S./B.S., 1976), and degrees in English from University at Albany (M.A., 1986, Doctor of Arts, 1989). Amato is the author of eleven books, including a memoir and three novels, and numerous essays and reviews. With his late writing partner, Kass Fleisher, he's written a half a dozen screenplays (none of which have been produced to date), and he served as production manager at Steerage Press, founded by Fleisher in 2011. Amato taught writing and literature at Illinois State University in Normal, IL, from 2003 through 2023.