Frederick Bauman was born a poet in the city of Chicago on December 10, 1943. When he was five his family moved to the suburb of Villa Park, IL. When he was ten they moved to the Pittsburgh area where his father's family originates. He became a big fan of Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and the Pittsburgh Pirates in general. When he was sixteen he began hanging out in coffeehouses, listening to folksongs and reading Beatnik poetry. This is when he began writing poetry. For several years his "bible" was an anthology called New American Poetry 1945-60. In 1960 he spent two months traveling in Europe.
He graduated from Edgewood High School and went on to attend Washington College in Chestertown, MD., where he participated in civil rights demonstrations, had his poems published in the college literary magazine, acted in plays put on by the Washington Players and drank too much beer. He graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in English.
After spending a year in New York City, he was drafted into the army. He did his basic training at Ft Gordon, GA and spent time at the Presidio of San Francisco being trained as an information specialist. While in San Francisco he came in contact with the hippie and anti-war movements. This led to various experiences that became the basis for his novel, Periwinkle, which was written in the early nineties and was published in 2001.
At the beginning of 1969 he moved back to New York City and dedicated himself to learning the poet's craft. During the seventies he gave poetry readings in various establishments in the City and founded and ran a much publicized poetry reading series at Chumley's in Greenwich Village. He also became a contributing editor for the literary quarterly, Home Planet News.
For most of his adult life he has made his living on the business side of the publishing industry in New York City, except for the years 1995-1999 when he lived in Phoenix, AZ working for a company that provded business systems for publishers. He currently lives in the Catskill region of New York State with his wife Joan-Marie.
In addition to his novel, he has two books of poetry currently available from Amazon.com. Enneagrammatic Improvisations (2007) and Feral Idylls (2010) were both published by Codhill Press of New Paltz, NY. He has just completed a new collection, Song of Myself and Other Poems, which will be published by Codhill Press in the summer of 2011. He has begun another collection titled Lyrical Inquiries and a book length poem tentatively called Gotham. He also has two novels in progress. One is about a fictional poet/detective named Ezekiel Ounce and the other is centered in the Soho artist community. He is looking forward to finding the time to resume working on the novels, but poetry takes precedence.
He graduated from Edgewood High School and went on to attend Washington College in Chestertown, MD., where he participated in civil rights demonstrations, had his poems published in the college literary magazine, acted in plays put on by the Washington Players and drank too much beer. He graduated in 1965 with a bachelor's degree in English.
After spending a year in New York City, he was drafted into the army. He did his basic training at Ft Gordon, GA and spent time at the Presidio of San Francisco being trained as an information specialist. While in San Francisco he came in contact with the hippie and anti-war movements. This led to various experiences that became the basis for his novel, Periwinkle, which was written in the early nineties and was published in 2001.
At the beginning of 1969 he moved back to New York City and dedicated himself to learning the poet's craft. During the seventies he gave poetry readings in various establishments in the City and founded and ran a much publicized poetry reading series at Chumley's in Greenwich Village. He also became a contributing editor for the literary quarterly, Home Planet News.
For most of his adult life he has made his living on the business side of the publishing industry in New York City, except for the years 1995-1999 when he lived in Phoenix, AZ working for a company that provded business systems for publishers. He currently lives in the Catskill region of New York State with his wife Joan-Marie.
In addition to his novel, he has two books of poetry currently available from Amazon.com. Enneagrammatic Improvisations (2007) and Feral Idylls (2010) were both published by Codhill Press of New Paltz, NY. He has just completed a new collection, Song of Myself and Other Poems, which will be published by Codhill Press in the summer of 2011. He has begun another collection titled Lyrical Inquiries and a book length poem tentatively called Gotham. He also has two novels in progress. One is about a fictional poet/detective named Ezekiel Ounce and the other is centered in the Soho artist community. He is looking forward to finding the time to resume working on the novels, but poetry takes precedence.
