Written over two decades, The Excellent Assembly commemorates the 25th anniversary of 9/11. These lyrical narrative poems and monologues remember the dead, the survivors, and those whose heroism inspires us to this day.
McDowell has long been recognized as a central figure in New Narrative and New Formalist Poetry. His formal and free verse poems always bring together lyric and narrative elements that make for a reading experience like no other. His poems are published in anthologies, journals, magazines and newspapers around the world; his books have appeared from Henry Holt & Company (Owl Books), the University of Pittsburgh Press, Penguin, Free Press/Simon & Schuster, Peterloo Poets (England) and The Salmon Publishing in Ireland. McDowell teaches at Kent State University, and taught at the University of Southern Indiana, UC Santa Cruz and the Bennington low-residency MFA program, which he co-designed with the late Liam Rector. With Mark Jarman, he created and co-edited The Reaper, an influential literary magazine. McDowell was also co-founder, editor and director of Story Line Press, where he selected and guided into print more than 300 books
