Kenneth Francis Pearson

ALLi Author Member

At the age of 21, Kenneth Pearson’s love of the written word was ignited when a friend introduced him to The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac. Soon after, he packed up his 1984 Oldsmobile Delta Royal Brougham and embarked on a cross-country journey which changed the course of his artistic endeavors and fueled his poetic mind.

In 2004, his first book, THE OLD LEATHER ROOM, was published by Cyberwit, and documented his emotional struggles and perceptions from his early-20’s and included entries from his travels. The book, although lacking in poetic structure, was lauded as a “gritty, in-your-face collection accessible to the everyday reader.”

Readings at local libraries and coffee shops brought about an introduction to the Editors at Amarcord Press. This introduction birthed a collaborative artistic relationship and would eventually lead to the publication of WATER FALLS IN AUTUMN: VERSE VS. ADVERSITY in 2007. The book received local acclaim as being “disturbingly brash, yet intrinsically hopeful.”

In 2010, while in his early-30's, he resolved to finish and earn his degree. He attended Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, NY, and in 2012, graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Kenneth credits many of his professors with reigniting his love of Classic Literature.

For several months thereafter, he grappled with the decision of pursuing a graduate degree. He was undecided as to his path until one morning, overcome with the desire to write a novel, he determined creative writing to be the focus of his pursuit. He wanted to learn the art of fiction writing, so, in 2014, he enrolled in Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Creative Writing Program. This proved advantageous in many ways - education, peers, and mentors - but none more than meeting his now wife in January 2015, while both were attending the residency at Wroxton Abbey in Oxfordshire, England.

In 2017, he won the Greater New York State Poetry Competition with his poem “Shadow of the Maple Tree”. He has been published in the The Night Heron Barks, Remington Review, Kind of a Hurricane Press, New Priory Press, among others.

In September 2021, Kenneth self-published, SCATTERED, a 30-poem chapbook which focuses on his relationship with the thoughts of death and legacy. This was his first publication under the imprint Scarmora Press.

Kenneth’s second self-published publication, CATCHING MIST IN THE WIND was released in December 2022.

Kenneth is the Organizational Development Manager for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. He is also an Organizational Development & Learning Consultant & Writing Professional.

He has been an Adjunct Professor of English at Kalamazoo Valley Community College and Hudson County Community College. He is a member of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, the Arizona State Poets Society, and Sigma Tau Delta.

His writing has been influenced by many authors, but none more than Albert Camus, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Franz Kafka, and Edgar Allan Poe.

He currently resides in Vail, Arizona with his wife, Cory Lynn, and their three pets.