University Writing Program > Donald Berger
Donald Berger

Donald Berger (he/him)

Lecturer

Contact Information

Donald Berger studied literature and writing at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Brown University, and the University of Washington.  He is the author of seven books of poetry.  His poems and prose have appeared in The New Republic, Slate, Conjunctions, Fence, The Iowa Review, The New York Times, The Believer, and other publications including some from Berlin, Leipzig, Budapest, Hong Kong, and mainland China. He was formerly Administrative Director and Lecturer in the University of Maryland’s MFA Program in Creative Writing. 

Books & Chapbooks

  • The Rose of Maine, SurVision Books (2024)
  • Pizza Necklace, Foundlings Press (2023)
  • The Long Time (bilingual), Wallstein Verlag, Goettingen, Germany (2014)
  • Quality Hill, Lost Roads Publishers, Providence, RI (1993)
  • Or Purchase a Star, Berlin, Germany (2008)
  • The Cream-Filled Muse, Fledermaus Press, Providence, RI (1988)

Periodicals

  • “Grade School,” “Mother Is Doing That,” “The Perfect Common in January,” “New Orleans,” Gone Soft (1977)
  • “290 Pleasant Street,” Spectrum (1978)
  • “Lloyd Recalls All,” a...Magazine (1979)
  • “Relocation,” Seattle Review (1980)
  • “Boy,” Mothers of Mud (1985)
  • “I said some poems....,” Massachusetts Review (1987)
  • “Heart Music,” Zeitschrift für Alles (Berlin, 1987)
  • “The Guys Who Keep Coming Around,” Ironwood (1988)
  • “Postcard from a Tired Man,” “Quality Hill,” Caliban (1989)
  • “This Isn’t the One,” Zerograph (1992)
  • “I Am Only One Person,” Route One (1996)
  • “Hardscrabble Road,” “Desk for Sale,” “Elizabeth,” Route One (1996)
  • “Apology Two,” “At the Back of the Book,” The Alembic (1996)
  • “Psychologically,” “Spontaneous Poem Requiring Little Revision,” Colorado Review (1998)
  • “The Lincoln Bedroom,” The New Republic (1999)
  • “Dinner in the Sun,” The New American Poets: A Breadloaf Anthology (1999)
  • “The Language Pile,” “Hitler Slept Here” (article), Slate (2000)
  • “Tom Madigan,” Budapest (2000)
  • “Annisquam,” Shampoo (2003)
  • “Scotch and an Orange,” Conjunctions (2003)
  • “The Sniper,” TriQuarterly (2004)
  • “To Likes-to-Have-Fun,” “I Forget,” Begriffstudio (Berlin, 2004)
  • “On the Thing,” The Iowa Review (2005)
  • “peonies” (translation from German), “cowboycraft” (translation from German), Poetry International Web (2005)
  • “Written While Walking,” Arlington Literary Journal (2006)
  • “House of Fun,” “Artistically,” “City Forever,” Takoma Voice (2006)
  • “Song of the Waterbed,” Takoma Voice (2007)
  • “Red Silence,” Faculty Voice (2008)
  • “The Baltimore Sun,” Poetry Without Borders 2 (2008)
  • “The Wall,” “Ex-Poet,” poet (Leipzig, 2009)
  • “To Haiti,” Arlington Literary Journal (2010)
  • “You Should See,” Poet Lore (2010)
  • “For Anyone,” “Through These Doors,” “Confusion and Failure,” The Sligo Journal (2012)
  • “How to Be a Man,” Narrative 4 / Esquire (2013)
  • “The Long Time,” augustone2013.blogspot.co.uk (2013)
  • “Written While Walking,” Limen (Osnabrueck, Germany, 2014)
  • “Tom Madigan” (reprint), “People’s Stage,” “You Don’t Need,” Or (2014)
  • “The Window,” Fence (2014)
  • “Watch Your Ears,” Beltway Poetry Quarterly (2015)
  • “Numbered Poem,” Innisfree Poetry Journal (2015)
  • “Horse,” “Hanging Wood,” Smartish Pace (2016)
  • “You,” “A Jeep Sits in Water Tonight,” “Somewhere That Take Visa,” Foundlings (2016)
  • “Looks at Berkeley #23,” Hopkins Review (2017)
  • “An Instance of Sandhi,” SAND Journal (Berlin, 2017)
  • “The Bear’s Name is Francis Donoghue,” “The Nice Woman Phones,” New American Writing (2018)
  • “The Guide,” Cha (Hong Kong, 2018)
  • “I wasn’t born but…,” Voice and Verse (Hong Kong, 2019)
  • “Saturday, May 11,” “The Michigan Games,” “Spirited,” “Your Umbrella,” “Bitter Water,” “Writing is too easy…,” “Study of the ‘The Look of Love,” “Second Earth,” “If I Say Something,” The Rose of Maine
  • “Untranslatable Words,” “This Is Different,” “Stevie Wonder,” Work (Guangzhou, China, 2019)
  • “Dear Eastern,” “Color,” “Hamburger Theory,” “I Was Trying,” Writer (Changchun, China, 2019)
  • “Rita’s Hand,” “Island,” “Hanoi,” “The Sound,” “Natalie,” “Would You Mind If,” Peony (Luoyang, China, 2019)
  • “I’m Writing,” Conduit (2020)
  • “Metropolitan Diary,” New York Times
  • Interview with Yan Lianke, The Believer (2021)
  • “Jetlag and Jealousy,” New American Writing (2021)
  • “Blue Dove,” “Leaving the Tavern,” Best American Poetry blog, “Pick of the Week” (2021)
  • “U.S. Wavy Deal,” Chicago Review (2022)
  • “Home,” “If You Spin,” “Tonight,” “Team Reason,” “Equation,” “I Thought the Actor,” “Earth,” Alonsoville Voice (2022)
  • “Alison,” “As Possible,” “Notifications,” “False Memory,” The Nervous Breakdown (2022)
  • “False Memory,” Alonsoville Voice (2023)
  • “Seven Reasons Why Babies Cry,” R&R (2024)
  • “The Car,” “We Owe You,” “Grandma,” “Please,” “Introduced,” “And Now,” “Where,” “Hindi,” “Revision,” “Uncle Sadness,” “I Love You Again,” “Witness,” Alonsoville Voice (2024)
  • “Strong Maybe,” Alonsoville Voice (2024)
  • “This Is Different,” New American Writing (2025)
  • Audio and video interview with Joey Grantham, zona motel (2025)
  • “Uncle Sadness,” Best American Poetry (2025)

Poetry readings at Cranston (R.I.) Public Library; Barrington (R.I.) Public Library; Brown University; Rhode Island School of Design; St. Johnsbury Academy (Vermont); The Ear Inn Poetry Series (New York); Word of Mouth Series–Cambridge, Massachusetts; Writers Here and Now Series–University of Maryland College Park; Black Cow Series–Croton, New York; American Academy of Rome; Hirschorn Museum–Washington, D.C. (day-long reading/workshop on writing about art); Writers Center–Bethesda, Maryland; Institute for Advanced Study (Berlin); Associated Writing Programs National Conference, Baltimore, Maryland; New City Hall Commemoration, inaugural poem, Takoma Park, Maryland; Third Thursday Series, Takoma Park, Maryland; Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin; University of Osnabrueck, Germany, Literaturbüro Westniedersachsen;; Literaturwerkstatt, Berlin;  Upshur Street Bookstore, Washington, DC; Blabbermouth Series, Baltimore; Johns Hopkins University;  DC-Area Literary Translators Network; Translation Conference at Montgomery College., Takoma Park, Maryland; Ivy Bookshop, Baltimore; Atomic Books, Baltimore; Writers Center, Bethesda, Maryland;  Hong Kong University of Science and Technology;  Swing a Cat Series, Hong Kong;  Italy Aloud!, Hong Kong;  Hot L Poetry Series, Bird in Hand Bookshop, Baltimore;  Humanities in the Village Series, Baltimore;  Lesebuch Series, University of Osnabrueck, Germany;  Book release party for Jocelyn Garlington, Normals Bookshop, Baltimore;   Hidden Palace Reading Series, Baltimore, Greedy Reads Bookshop, Baltimore;  Milk House Poetry Readings, Frederick, Maryland;  Patio Reading Series, New York, New York

Poem “Tom Madigan” presented at Come Shining, an invitational multi-media exhibit at Poets Theater, New York, December 1997.

Introduction of John Ashbery and Anne Carson–Folger Poetry Series, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., February 1997; Introduction of August Kleinzahler—American Academy of Berlin December, 2000; Introduction of John Ashbery—Distinguished Lecturer Series, University of Maryland, March 2003; Introduction of C.D. Wright–Folger Shakespeare Library, April, 2003; Panelist and reader– Confluence 2016: Translation in the Capital Area, Washington D.C. September, 2016.