Christopher Hewitt Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 4 (2016) Winner
Benjamin S. Grossberg
ベンジャミン・S・グロスバーグ
Benjamin S. Grossberg
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Hartford, Connecticut (working residence) → Ohio (period of teaching)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, educator, writer, editor
- Active Years
- 1998-
- Affiliations
- University of Hartford (Director of Creative Writing), Antioch College (Professor of Literature and Creative Writing)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Houston | — | — | — | — | United States |
| Rutgers University | — | — | — | — | United States |
University of Houston
Country:
United States
Rutgers University
Country:
United States
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Pushcart Prize | “Beetle Orgy” | — | Pushcart Press | winner |
| 2007 | Snyder Prize | Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath | — | Ashland Poetry Press | winner |
| 2009 | Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry | Sweet Core Orchard | Gay Poetry | Lambda Literary Foundation | winner |
| 2009 | Tampa Review Prize | Sweet Core Orchard | — | Tampa Review / Tampa Press | winner |
| 2011 | The Best American Poetry (anthology inclusion) | “The Space Traveler Talks Frankly About Desire” | — | The Best American Poetry editors | included |
| 2016 | Christopher Hewitt Award | “Days of 1993, ’94, ’95” | — | A&U Magazine / Christopher Hewitt Awards | winner |
| 2016 | Jacar Press Chapbook Competition | An Elegy | Chapbook | Jacar Press | winner |
| 2020 | Foreword Indies Book of the Year (Poetry, Silver) | My Husband Would | Poetry | Foreword Reviews | silver |
| 2021 | Connecticut Book Award (Poetry) | My Husband Would | Poetry | Connecticut Center for the Book | winner |
| 2023 | The James Alan McPherson Prize | The Spring Before Obergefell | — | Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) | winner |
| 2025 | Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance | The Spring Before Obergefell | Gay Romance | Lambda Literary Foundation | winner |
Pushcart Prize
2005
Work:
“Beetle Orgy”
Organization:
Pushcart Press
Result:
winner
Snyder Prize
2007
Work:
Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath
Organization:
Ashland Poetry Press
Result:
winner
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry
2009
Work:
Sweet Core Orchard
Category:
Gay Poetry
Organization:
Lambda Literary Foundation
Result:
winner
Tampa Review Prize
2009
Work:
Sweet Core Orchard
Organization:
Tampa Review / Tampa Press
Result:
winner
The Best American Poetry (anthology inclusion)
2011
Work:
“The Space Traveler Talks Frankly About Desire”
Organization:
The Best American Poetry editors
Result:
included
Christopher Hewitt Award
2016
Work:
“Days of 1993, ’94, ’95”
Organization:
A&U Magazine / Christopher Hewitt Awards
Result:
winner
Jacar Press Chapbook Competition
2016
Work:
An Elegy
Category:
Chapbook
Organization:
Jacar Press
Result:
winner
Foreword Indies Book of the Year (Poetry, Silver)
2020
Work:
My Husband Would
Category:
Poetry
Organization:
Foreword Reviews
Result:
silver
Connecticut Book Award (Poetry)
2021
Work:
My Husband Would
Category:
Poetry
Organization:
Connecticut Center for the Book
Result:
winner
The James Alan McPherson Prize
2023
Work:
The Spring Before Obergefell
Organization:
Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP)
Result:
winner
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Romance
2025
Work:
The Spring Before Obergefell
Category:
Gay Romance
Organization:
Lambda Literary Foundation
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Spring Before Obergefell
2024 NovelA novel set in the months before the Obergefell decision, exploring personal and communal relationships and love.
LGBTQlovecommunityhistorical context
Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath
2007 Poetry collectionA poetry collection that treats personal memory, desire, and bodily sensation with subtlety and humor.
memorydesirethe body
Sweet Core Orchard
2009 Poetry collectionA collection exploring intimacy, loss, and identity rooted in personal and communal experience.
intimacylossidentity
Space Traveler
2014 Poetry collectionContains poems that use images of space and travel to question desire and self-awareness.
spacetraveldesire
Adaptations
- [audio/video recording] “The Space Traveler Talks Frankly About Desire” reading (video) (2019)
My Husband Would
2020 Poetry collectionA recent collection addressing marriage, partnership, desire, and loss.
marriagepartnershiploss
Bibliography
- The Spring Before Obergefell (novel, 2024)
- Underwater Lengths in a Single Breath (poetry, 2007)
- Sweet Core Orchard (poetry, 2009)
- Space Traveler (poetry, 2014)
- My Husband Would (poetry, 2020)
- The Auctioneer Bangs His Gavel (chapbook, 2006)
- An Elegy (chapbook, 2017)
- As Are Right Fit (chapbook, 2024)
- Editor: The Poetry of Capital: Voices from Twenty-first Century America (edited collection, 2021)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- clear, direct languagetone combining humor and sentimentuse of dramatic monologue
- Recurring Motifs
- love and desirememory and lossphysicalityimagery of space and travel
Legacy
Grossberg is regarded as an important voice in contemporary American poetry, known for personal and community-rooted work on LGBTQ themes. His teaching and editorial work have also influenced younger writers.
Archives
- Yale LUX collection (person record)
Trivia
- Won the Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry in 2009.
- Serves as Director of Creative Writing at the University of Hartford.
- Poems and essays have appeared in outlets such as The Paris Review and The Kenyon Review.