Daniel Nester

Degrees

Professional Experience

Daniel Nester is an essayist, poet, journalist, editor, and Queen fan. He is the author most recently of the poetry and prose collection “Harsh Realm: My 1990s” (Indolent Press, 2022). His previous books include “Shader: 99 Notes on Car Washes, Making Out in Church, Grief, and Other Unlearnable Subjects” (99: The Press, 2015), a memoir; “How to Be Inappropriate” (Soft Skull Press, 2010), a collection of humorous nonfiction; and “The Incredible Sestina Anthology” (Write Bloody, 2013), which he edited. His first two books, “God Save My Queen: A Tribute” (Soft Skull, 2003) and “God Save My Queen II: The Show Must Go On” (2004) are collections on his obsession with the rock band Queen. His third, “The History of My World Tonight” (BlazeVOX, 2006), is a book of poems.

As a journalist and essayist, his work has appeared in a variety of places, including The Atlantic, Salon, The New York Times, Buzzfeed, and the Poetry Foundation website, and anthologized in such collections as “Lost and Found,” “The Best American Poetry,” “The Best Creative Nonfiction,” “Third Rail: The Poetry of Rock and Roll,” and “Now Write! Nonfiction.” His poems have appeared in such journals as Hopkins Review, American Poetry Review, Coconut, Shampoo, Gulf Coast, Barrow Street, jubilat, Crazyhorse, Open City, Slope, Spoon River Poetry Review, and other places. He is the former editor of the online journals Unpleasant Event Schedule and La Petite Zine and worked as Assistant Web Editor for Sestinas for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He currently edits Pine Hills Review, the online literary journal of The College of Saint Rose.

Teaching Interests

• Creative Nonfiction (graduate and undergraduate workshops)
• Creative Writing: emphasis on poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction
• Experimental Essay, Personal Essay, Memoir
• Senior English Internship Class
• Topics in Prose Writing: Popular Culture Essay, First-Person
• Journalism and Media Writing, Interviews and Oral History
• Expository Writing, Oral Communication, and Research
• Oral Interpretation of Literature: Poetry in Performance
• English as a Second Language, writing, speaking, and listening

Research/Creative Works

• “Harsh Realm: My 1990s,” Indolent Books 2022, collection of poems and prose poems.
• “Shader: 99 Notes on Car Washes, Making Out in Church, Grief, and Other Unlearnable Subjects,” 99: The Press, 2016.
• “God Save My Queen,” combined ebook of “God Save My Queen I” and “God Save My Queen II,” Pronoun, 2015.
• “The Incredible Sestina Anthology,” Write Bloody Publishing, first-ever anthology of sestinas, 2013.
• “How to Be Inappropriate,” Soft Skull Press/Counterpoint, collection of humorous nonfiction, 2010.
• “The History of My World Tonight,” BlazeVOX Books, poetry collection, 2006.
• “God Save My Queen II: The Show Must Go On,” Soft Skull Press, essay and memoir collection, 2004.
• “God Save My Queen: A Tribute,” Soft Skull Press, essay and memoir collection, 2003.
• Recent work in The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Brooklyn Rail, Buzzfeed,The Millions, Barrelhouse online, The Morning News, and The Poetry Foundation website