Iven Lourie

Iven Lourie worked as Poetry Editor at Chicago Review in the 1960s, and he has pursued editing, writing, and performance art since. He participated in demonstrations and readings against the Vietnam War during the ‘60s and ‘70s. After completing his MFA at U. of Arizona (1978), where he studied with poets Richard Shelton, Peter Wild, and Steve Orlen, he moved to Northern California where he works as Editor for Gateways Books and Artemis Books; teaches composition and literature at Sierra Community College; and leads the Café Writers critique group. He has more recently participated in the Sierra Writers Conference (2016 and 2017), performed with the Poets Quartet (see photo), and edited a campus literary magazine for Sierra College, Nevada County Campus, called INSCAPE. Lourie has been married twice, has three daughters and one grand-daughter. He plays guitar and fiddle for fun, and audiences agree that his music shows more sincerity and heart than skill or talent.