Born into a Navy family and named in honor of a Civil War Naval hero, Bill Cushing has lived in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, Maryland, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico before moving to California. As an undergrad, he was called the “blue collar” writer by classmates at the University of Central Florida because of his own years serving in the Navy and later working as an electrician on oil tankers, naval vessels, and fishing boats before he returned to college at the age of 37.
He earned an MFA in writing from Goddard College in Vermont. For over 20 years, he taught at East Los Angeles and Mt. San An...
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Born into a Navy family and named in honor of a Civil War Naval hero, Bill Cushing has lived in Virginia, New York, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Florida, Maryland, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico before moving to California. As an undergrad, he was called the “blue collar” writer by classmates at the University of Central Florida because of his own years serving in the Navy and later working as an electrician on oil tankers, naval vessels, and fishing boats before he returned to college at the age of 37.
He earned an MFA in writing from Goddard College in Vermont. For over 20 years, he taught at East Los Angeles and Mt. San Antonio colleges while residing in Glendale with his wife and their son. Recently retired, Bill continues writing and facilitates a writing workshop in Eagle Rock, California for 9 Bridges, a nationwide non-profit community for writers. He also performs with a musician in a project called “Notes and Letters.”
As a writer, Bill has been published in various literary journals, magazines, and newspapers, including Birders World and The San Juan Star. He is a regular contributor to both Boomer Café (now defunct) and L. A. Cultural Daily.
His short stories have appeared in Borfski Press, Newtown Literary Journal, Rivanna Review, and Sediments. His poetry has appeared in numerous journals both in print and online, including both volumes of the award-winning Stories of Music as well as in several volumes of The Poet.
A nominee for both a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, Bill was named as one of the Top Ten Poets of L.A. in 2017, and in 2018, he was honored as on the ten poets to watch in L. A. His 2019 book, A Former Life, was released by Finishing Line Press and honored by the Kops-Fetherling International book Award. He also won the 2019 San Gabriel Valley Chapbook Competition with Music Speaks, a volume that won a bronze medal from the 2021 New York City Book Awards. In 2022, Cyberwit released . . .this just in. . ., a chapbook that includes selections with accompanying artwork. His most recent complete collection of poems, Just a Little Cage of Bone, was released last February. Most recently his collection of short stories, The Commies Come to Waterton, was published.
He is currently revising a memoir that recalls his years in the Navy and on other ships afterward and has returned to his creative thesis, Counting Down the Breaths, a memoir about his late wife’s death to cancer, written from the point of view of the caregiver. Bill is also working with Southern Arizona Press to release two collections of creative non-fiction narratives before the end of 2023.
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