Benjamin Dean (Poet)

Benjamin has been writing poetry off and on for over four decades, beginning in earnest in 1982 in order to cope with his first real heartbreak. You can find many of these early poems in his book “Ture Love.” In his late twenties he began meditating, which changed his poetry dramatically, turning the subject matter towards revelation and awakenings. Over the years his work has matured and grown deeper. All of his work takes up no more than a page (most are much shorter) and are more in the spirit and nature of High Coo.

His poems are easy to digest, insightful, humorous, irreverent, and playful. Benjamin has a way of getting straight to the heart. Many are like mantras and stick in your mind with a certain spiritual glue. Unwaveringly critical of complacency and the resistance to self-awareness (both in him-self and others), his poetry is at times quite biting. The message, however, is consistent: “seek the peace that comes with self-inquiry and an alignment with nature and source.”

Benjamin has also experienced some success with his plays. His one-act comedic drama “The Constant Companion” was produced as part of the Pittsburgh New Works Festival in 2013, while his comedic drama “Art Appreciation” was selected for the 2013 Fall Festival of Readings at Artemisia Theatre in Chicago. His ten-minute play “Family Time” was selected as a winner and produced as part of the “New Rocky Mountain Voices” playwriting competition.

His interest in theatre began at Wayne State University in Detroit, where he trained as an actor. Continuing his education, he attended the Professional Actor Training Program (PATP) at the University of Washington in Seattle. Not long after finishing school, he moved to New York City where, in ’86, he was cast in the Equity, children’s theatre troupe, The Paper Bag Players.

While still in New York, in ’87, he began playwriting. His first play, “The Playground (an existential farce)” received a staged reading in ’88 at the Actors and Directors Lab at Circle Repertory Theatre and again later that year at the Lee Strasberg Institute. In ’89, also in New York, his play “Quandary” was staged-read at Terry Schreiber Studios. In the early 90’s, he moved his family to the west coast where, in ’94, his farce “Not Just Another Christmas Carol” premiered in Northern California to critical acclaim. The following year, his comedy “Feet of Clay” received a public reading at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles.

Benjamin currently lives with his wife and two cats in Southeastern Iowa.