Lou Lipsitz has a diverse history. As a poet, he has published two previous books — Cold Water (Wesleyan Press, 1967) and Reflections on Samson (kayak press, 1977). His work appears in numerous anthologies and is widely used in teaching poetry in public schools. His writing has been influenced by the American poets Robert Bly, Galway Kinnell, Denise Levertov, Gary Snyder, and James Wright, but also shaped by non-English language poets including Pablo Neruda, Zbigniew Herbert, and Rolf Jacobsen. Currently a psychotherapist in Chapel Hill, NC with a strong focus on men’s issues, he was for thirty years previous a professor of political science at the University of North Carolina. He taught democratic theory and political psychology and was the author of a widely used text in American politics and of numerous scholarly articles. Lipsitz’ involvement in the men’s movement over the last ten years has markedly affected his writing. In his new book, Seeking the Hook, many of the poems are closely related to such issues, including father/child relationships, struggling with anger and grief, finding the “deep masculine” in oneself, and forming stronger bonds with other
men.
Lipsitz was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1938. He is divorced, and has two children and four grandchildren.