Draft:Herbert Guggenheim

Herb Guggenheim (b. August 25, 1956- ) is an American novelist, short story writer, and poet. He was born in Washington, D.C., and is the only child of Bella Sanders Guggenheim and Jerome Sydney Guggenheim. When he was three, his parents moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, a near suburb of Washington, D.C.

Guggenheim attended public school in Montgomery County, Maryland, graduated high school in 1974, and went on to study creative writing, literature, and drama at New College of Florida.

After graduating from college in 1978, Guggenheim attended three graduate schools: American University (graduating in 1980 with an MA in literature), the University of Southern Mississippi (graduating in 1983 with a PhD in English), and Johns Hopkins University (graduating in 1985 with an MA in creative writing).

Guggenheim taught at several universities, including Wilkes University, Michigan State University, and the University of the District of Columbia.

Pleasant Dream Productions

From the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, Guggenheim ran Pleasant Dream Productions, a small peripatetic theater company based in Washington, D.C. He directed Jean Genet’s The Maids, Don DeLillo’s The Day Room, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, John Pielmeier’s Agnes of God, Eric Overmeyer’s On the Verge, and Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest and Lady Windermere’s Fan.

Additionally, he produced marathon readings of James Joyce’s Ulysses which took place yearly from 1984 through 2000 on or around June 16 (the date known to Joyce enthusiasts as Bloomsday).

Career as a clinical social worker

Overlapping his theater career, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Guggenheim studied social work at the Catholic University of America, receiving an MSW degree in 1993. As a licensed clinical social worker, Guggenheim worked with psychiatric patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Guggenheim is the author of three novels and two books of poetry:

Novels:

Violations of Causality (Ecclesiastes Press, 2015) The Nothingness Imperative (Ecclesiastes Press, 2019) RESURRECTION 2020 (Ecclesiastes Press, 2022)

Poetry:

Sunset at the Hotel Mira Mar (Infinity Publishing, 2011) Strange Encounter at the Shakespeare Motel (Finishing Line Press, 2017)

http://herbguggenheim.wix.com/author-blog

PUBLICATIONS

 * “Pete Sussman Hangs Out at an Art Opening” Gargoyle 58, Summer 2012
 * “Nice Ass,” Main Street Rag, Volume 18, number 2, Spring 2013.
 * “Post-Cold War” District Lines, Volume 1, Number 1, Summer 2013
 * “Pete Sussman Leaves on a Jet Plane” Gargoyle #60, Summer 2013.
 * “Ocean,” Kalkion (online), April 16, 2013. http://kalkion.com/fiction/2005/ocean
 * “Outside night cool breeze,” Haiku Journal (online), Issue #15, spring 2013. http://haikujournal.org/e-issues/
 * “Cats laze in the sun,” Haiku Journal (online), Issue #15, spring 2013. http://haikujournal.org/e-issues/
 * “A man is thirsty,” Haiku Journal (online), Issue #15, spring 2013. http://haikujournal.org/e-issues/
 * "Timmy," Gargoyle, #61, Summer 2014.
 * "Athena," Gargoyle, #61 Summer 2014.
 * "Date," Gargoyle, #61, summer 2014.
 * "The Death Poem II," Schlock Magazine, December 2013. http://www.schlockmagazine.net/2013/12/23/the-death-poem-ii/
 * "College," Schlock, July 2014. http://www.schlockmagazine.net/2014/07/26/college/
 * "The Chinese Room," Eunoia Review, November 28, 2013 http://eunoiareview.wordpress.com/.
 * "Picnickers," the Camel Saloon, June 25, 2013, online. http://thecamelsaloon.blogspot.com/2013/06/picnickers.html
 * "Skye," Kalkion (online), July 10, 2013 http://www.kalkion.com/poetry/2048/skye.
 * "Breakup," Kalkion (online), July 10, 2013. http://www.kalkion.com/poetry/2049/breakup
 * "Fall," Chrome Baby #12, October 15, 2013 (http://robindunn.com/bairn12.html)
 * "Coats," Chrome Baby #12, October 15, 2013 (http://robindunn.com/bairn12.html)
 * "Retreat," Kalkion. August 9, 2013. http://www.kalkion.com/fiction/2075/retreat
 * "Hours of packing books," Haiku Journal (haikujournal.org), Issue #18, Summer 2013.
 * "Helmet Diving," The Camel Saloon, September 1, 2013. http://thecamelsaloon.blogspot.com/2013/09/helmet-diving.html
 * "The Nicholas Brothers," Poetry Quarterly. Summer 2013 edition. pp. 26-27. http://poetryquarterly.com/freeissues/summer2013/
 * "A glass of iced tea," Haiku Journal (haikujournal.org), Issue #19, late summer 2013.
 * "Pill," Unrorean, Volume XIII, issue 2, winter/spring 2014.
 * "Ashamed," The Unrorean, Volume XIII, issue 2, winter/spring 2014.
 * "The Death Poem" Eunoia Review, June 16, 2014. http://eunoiareview.wordpress.com/2014/06/16/the-death-poem/
 * "Why I Hate Your Poems," Gutter Eloquence, issue #29, January 2014.
 * "Weird," Something's Brewing [anthology]. Kind of a Hurricane Press, April 2014.
 * "What's Happening" Kalkion, June 30, 2014. http://www.kalkion.com/fiction/2250/whats-happening
 * "Aunt Bessie," Jew: the Zine, #7, September 2, 2014.
 * http://www.robindunn.com/jew-issue7.html
 * "Pete Sussman Remembers Some Short-term Relationships He Had During Earlier
 * Phases of His Adult Life," The Kitchen Poet" (undergroundbooks.org), January 15, 2015
 * http://www.undergroundbooks.org/the-kitchen-poet/herb-guggenheim-pete-sussman-remembers-some-short-term-relationships-he-had-during-earlier-phases-of-his-adult-life1
 * "Secret," Melancholy Hyperbole, January 25, 2015. http://melancholyhyperbole.com/2015/01/25/secret/
 * “Laser” Gargoyle #65, 2016
 * Strange Encounter at the Shakespeare Motel (chapbook) Finishing Line Press, September 24, 2015
 * “Drugged,” Pyrokinection, October 21, 2015. http://www.pyrokinection.com
 * “Hell,” Pyrokinection, October 21, 2015.http://www.pyrokinection.com
 * “Wave,” Jellyfish Whispers, October 14, 2015. http://www.jellyfishwhispers.com
 * “Fall,” Verse-Virtual, October 2015.
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2015-october.html
 * “Countdown,” Verse-Virtual, October 2015.
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2015-october.html
 * “Mishap,” Verse-Virtual, October 2015.
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2015-october.html
 * “Helmet Diving,” Verse-Virtual, October 2015.
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2015-october.html
 * “Pete Sussman Tells His Son about the Fair,” Verse-Virtual, December 2015
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2015-december.html
 * “Apotheosis,” Verse-Virtual, December 2015 http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2015-december.html
 * “What I Remember,” Verse-Virtual, January 2016,
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2016-january.html
 * “Wave,” Verse-Virtual, February 2016,
 * http://www.verse-virtual.com/herb-guggenheim-2016-february.html
 * Strange Encounter at the Shakespeare Motel (chapbook, 2nd printing, expanded), Finishing Line Press, 2017
 * “Poet,” The Road Not Taken, vol. XII, number 1, Spring 2018
 * http://journalformalpoetry.com/archive/2018/TheRoadNotTakenSpring2018.pdf
 * “Plagiarist,” The Society of Classical Poets, July 2, 2018
 * http://classicalpoets.org/plagiarist-by-herb-guggenheim/
 * “Gray Out,” The Maria W. Faust Sonnet Competition website, July 20, 2019.
 * http://sonnetcontest.org/2019-winners/2019-laureates-choice-group-two/

OP-EDS

 * “New College’s leaders are majoring in greed, arrogance and ignorance,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, June 29, 2023. With Steve Jacobson.
 * “Old graduates of New College don’t trust what’s going on now,” Tampa Bay Times, July 15, 2023. With Steve Jacobson.

RECOGNITION

 * Poetica Magazine: Contemporary Jewish Writing. 2013 Chapbook Finalist. Six Poems.
 * Chrome Baby. Nomination for Pushcart Prize. "Coats."
 * Chrome Baby. Nomination for Best of the Web. “Fall."
 * Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, “Countdown,” Honorable Mention, rhymed poetry (not sure what year—2014 I think)
 * Writer’s Digest Writing Competition, “Doreen,” “Michelle,” and “Liar,” Honorable Mention (2016)
 * Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Competition, Violations of Causality, Finalist (2017 for year 2016)
 * Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition, “Nocturne,” Honorable Mention (2017)
 * Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition, “Poet,” Fifth Place (2017)
 * Maria W. Faust Sonnet Competition, “Gray Out,” Laureate’s Choice Award (2019)

READINGS

 * Georgetown Neighborhood Library, April 2015 (featured reader)
 * Aspen Hill Library, Silver Spring, MD (featured reader)
 * Zu Coffee Annapolis, MD, August 28, 2015 (featured reader)
 * Georgetown Neighborhood Library, October 1, 2015
 * Nora School, December 10, 2015 (featured reader)
 * Iota, Arlington, VA, January 10, 2016
 * Kensington Row Bookshop, Kensington, MD, January 27, 2016.
 * Georgetown Neighborhood Library, Washington, D.C., May 5, 2016 (featured reader)
 * The Writer’s Center (featured reader), June 5, 2016
 * Ahh Coffee (featured reader) check date 2016
 * Iota, (featured reader) Arlington, VA, July 9, 2017
 * Evelyn’s, Annapolis, MD, February 10, 2018 (featured reader)

CRITICAL REVIEWS

 * "A diverting tale that favors vivid characters and topical social issues over SF elements.” Review of Herb Guggenheim’s RESURRECTION 2020 Kirkus Reviews. Online: November 23, 2022. Print issue: January 1, 2023.