Stephen Kuusisto

Stephen Kuusisto was born in Exeter, New Hampshire in 1955 and has been blind since birth. He earned a BA from Hobart College, an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop, and was a Fulbright Scholar. Kuusito has taught at the University of Iowa, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and the Ohio State University. He has received a number of awards and honors, including a poetry fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council and a distinguished Teaching Award from Hobart & William Smith Colleges.

He is the author of the memoirs Have Dog, Will Travel (2018), Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening (2006), and Planet of the Blind (1998). His essay collection Do Not Interrupt: A Playful Take on the Art of Conversation (2010) explores the topic of meaningful conversation. He is the author of two poetry collections, Only Bread, Only Light (2000) and Letters to Borges (2013), both from Copper Canyon Press. Reviewer for Booklist, Donna Seaman, observes that Kuusito’s poems “remind readers that vision takes many forms, and that feelings of being lost and alone are intrinsic to human nature.” His poems and essays have appeared in a number of periodicals and literary magazines, such as Harper’s, Poetry, and The New York Times Magazine.

Kuusito currently teaches at Syracuse University where he holds a University Professorship in Disability Studies.