Steve Kowit (1938–2015) was born in Brooklyn, New York, and later settled in the San Diego, California, area. He earned a BA from Brooklyn College and an MA from San Francisco State College, and taught at San Diego State University, the University of California, San Diego, and Southwestern College. His craft book In the Palm of Your Hand: The Poet's Portable Workshop (Tilbury House, 1995) is a widely used introduction to writing poetry. His poetry collections include Lurid Confessions (Carpenter Press, 1983) and The First Noble Truth (2007). He received a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and two Pushcart Prizes.
