Van G. Garrett

Van G. Garrett is an American author and poet. He is also a teacher, novelist and photographer. Garrett's poetry has appeared in a number of well-known American literary journals, including: African American Review; ChickenBones; Drumvoices Revue; Obsidian III; phati’tude Literary Magazine; Pittsburgh Quarterly; Potomac Review; and StepAway Magazine. His works have also been published internationally, including in: Istanbul Literature Review (Turkey); One Ghana, One Voice; Poems Niederngasse (Switzerland); and White Chimney (UK). Garrett often writes poetry with haiku or kwansaba structures. As of 2014, two volumes of Garrett's poetry and one novel have been published.

Van Garrett was born in Wharton, Texas. In 1999, he graduated from Houston Baptist University with a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media and English. In 2002 and again in 2004, Garrett was awarded a Callaloo Creative Writing Fellowship for poetry. In 2006, he received a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Houston–Victoria. Garrett continues to support an interdisciplinary approach through his focus on ekphrastic interpretation of art. In 2006, Garrett also received a Hurston/Wright Fellowship at American University.

Upon being awarded the Dr. Kwame Nkrumah International Study Scholarship in 2008, Van G. Garrett studied African American Sociolinguistics and African Philosophy at the University of Ghana. He traveled within Ghana, teaching and reading poetry, and practicing photography. Also in 2008, Garrett's first book of poetry was published. He was a Book-in-a-Day (BID) Fellow in 2010, participating in workshops and cultural fairs in Tuscany. In conjunction with the Writers In The Schools (WITS) program, in 2011 Garrett served as a writer-in-residence in Latvia, teaching creative writing and reading poetry at a White Night festival.

Van G. Garrett has led creative writing workshops at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. His visual art has been exhibited by or displayed at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, University of Rhode Island, and Rice University, and Aurora Picture Show.Garrett has received a Poets & Writers grant, participating in its Readings & Workshops program and has judged National Poetry Slam and ARTlines Poetry Competition events.

• Songs in Blue Negritude. New Orleans, LA: Xavier Review Press. February 1, 2008. ISBN 9781883275181. OCLC 724650541. 
• Entzminger, Betine, ed. (2010). "frederick (baily) douglass kwansaba - a poem" (PDF). Making Connections, Interdisciplinary approaches to cultural diversity — Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Frederick Douglass. Bloomsburg, PA: Bloomsburg University. 12 (1): 16. ISSN 1930-1987. 
• ZURI: Selected Love Songs. Cap & Sneakers Studios LLC. August 1, 2011. ASIN B005FLU3YC. 
• "Gingerbread and Bluegrass". Poetry. Potomac Review. Rockville, MD: Montgomery College (49). 2011. 
• Iron Legs In The Trees. Seaburn Books. January 15, 2013. ISBN 9781592323784. 

• Wharton Journal-Spectator, National Black History Month Feature, February 16, 2011