Charles Taylor Jr.

For the son of Liberian President Charles Taylor, see Charles McArther Emmanuel.

Charles Taylor Jr. (born 1943) is an American author. He was born in Minneapolis, but lived most of his life in Texas. He no longer teaches creative writing at Texas A&M and started a small press called Slough Press, publishing from 1973 to 2011. His contribution to building the literature scene in Austin, Texas, includes activities as both a writer and publisher. He published leading poets, fiction, and non-fiction writers, whose books received numerous awards and were sometimes later published by larger presses. His poetry collection What do You Want, Blood? received the 1988 Austin Book Award. He has taught in the NEA Poets-in-the-Schools Program and was CETA Poet-in-Residence for the City of Salt Lake.

Along with his ex-wife, Pat Littledog, Taylor co-operated one of the Paperbacks Plus Books in Austin, Texas, from 1980 to 1988. The store became an important literary center for the Southwest sponsoring literary readings and plays as well as serving as a home for Slough Press. Business owners John and Marquetta Tilton of Dallas opened several store locations run by famous Texas poets and writers who had not yet achieved widespread notoriety: poet Dr. Ricardo Sánchez in San Antonio and Dr. Hedwig Gorski's infamous Voltaire's Basement bookstore in downtown Austin. All branches of Paperbacks Plus allowed serious poets to live with their families on the store premises while providing a small income managing or selling at the location. Each became a hub of literary and performance activities across generations and styles nurturing the offbeat talents and lifestyles Central Texas is known for. These activities, venues, and people set the stage during the late 1970s and 80s for Austin Poetry Slam scenes.

College Instructor

Taylor retired as Coordinator of Creative Writing in the English Department of Texas A&M University at College Station teaching creative writing there for 21 years.

He specialized in creative writing (poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction), composition and technical writing for international students, and literature of the Beat Movement.

Education

He received his MA in English from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. He received his PhD in English from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois.

Publications

Poetry titles

• The Breaking that Brings Us Anew (Folder Press, New York, 1978).
• Selected Poems (Goethe's Notes, Maryland, 1978).
• Always Clear and Simple (Aileron, Austin, 1981).
• Ordinary Life (Cedar Rock, New Braunfels, 1984).
• What Do You Want, Blood? (Austin Book Award, 1986)
• Amerryka! (Ruddy Duck, 1984).
• Drinking in a Dry County (Maelstrom, Portland, Maine, 1985).
• I am Delighted that You are Here (Fat Tuesday, Grantville, 1995).
• Flying (A Primer), Tsunami, 2004
• Rips (Unicorn Press, 2005)
• Heterosexual: A Love Story (Panther Creek, 2006)
• Like Li-Po Laughing at the Lonely Moon (Pecan Grove Press, 2008)

Memoir

• Saving Sebastian (2010)

Fiction titles

• Somebody to Love (Flatland, 1991)

Anthologies (poetry, fiction, and essays)

• A Long Line of Joy, edited by W.J. Robinson (Long Beach), contains poetry and an essay by Chuck Taylor.
• Travois (Thorps Springs Press, Houston Contemporary Arts Museum, 1976).
• The Texas Anthology, edited by Paul Ruffin (Sam Houston State University Literary Review, 1979).
• Suddenly (Martin House, 1998).