Gary Gach
Encyclopedia
Gary Gregory Gach is an American
author, translator, editor, teacher and poet living on Russian Hill, San Francisco. He has published six books. His work has been translated into several languages (Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, Greek, Italian, and Russian). In 2004, he was appointed to serve on the International Advisory Panel of the Buddhist Channel, a Malaysian Buddhist
news website. A member of the Order of Interbeing
, he teaches mindfulness in the tradition of Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, at the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples
. He currently hosts Haiku Corner for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
.
in 1947. He was student body president of John Burroughs Junior High School
. He claims to have had a mystic vision at the age of 6. At 11, he read The Way of Zen by Alan Watts
, beginning a lifelong interest in Buddhism.
He was formally introduced to meditation by Paul Reps
and later studied Hasidic Judaism
and Kabbalah
, and was introduced to shikantaza
by Dainin Katagiri
Roshi.
He has worked as an actor, stevedore
, typographer, legal secretary
, editor-in-chief, webmaster, and teacher (most frequently of late, Stanford Continuing Studies). Besides Buddhism, he teaches haiku
.
in 1999 for What Book!?. He is recipient of a Northern California Book Award in translation (2007) for his work on Flowers of a Moment and shortlisted by them (2006) for Ten Thousand Lives, both by Ko Un. He is an honorary member of The Academy of American Poets
. He is recipient of translation grants from the Korea Literary Translation Institute and the Lannan Foundation. Poets & Writers
, Inc. has supported his readings through their funding initiative.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, translator, editor, teacher and poet living on Russian Hill, San Francisco. He has published six books. His work has been translated into several languages (Arabic, Chinese, Czech, French, Greek, Italian, and Russian). In 2004, he was appointed to serve on the International Advisory Panel of the Buddhist Channel, a Malaysian Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
news website. A member of the Order of Interbeing
Order of Interbeing
The Order of Interbeing, or Tiếp Hiện in Vietnamese, was founded between 1964 and 1966 by Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Tiếp means "being in touch with" and "continuing." Hiện means "realizing" and "making it here and now." "Interbeing" is a word coined by Thich Nhat Hanh to represent...
, he teaches mindfulness in the tradition of Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, at the Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples
Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples
The Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples is an intercultural, interracial, interfaith and interdenominational organization dedicated to "personal empowerment and social transformation through an ever deepening relationship with the Spirit of God in All Life."-The Church today:The current...
. He currently hosts Haiku Corner for Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review
Tricycle: The Buddhist Review is an independent, nonsectarian Buddhist quarterly magazine established in 1991 by Helen Tworkov. Published by The Tricycle Foundation out of New York City, most issues have interviews with Buddhist teachers, articles or essays on Buddhism and contemporary issues, book...
.
Life
Gach was born to a Jewish family in Hollywood, Los AngelesHollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
in 1947. He was student body president of John Burroughs Junior High School
John Burroughs Middle School (Los Angeles)
John Burroughs Middle School is a public middle school in Hancock Park, Los Angeles, California. The school serves the Hancock Park, Koreatown, Mid-Wilshire and Windsor Square section of Los Angeles, California. Additionally, it serves portions of Park La Brea, Brookside, and a small portion of the...
. He claims to have had a mystic vision at the age of 6. At 11, he read The Way of Zen by Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
, beginning a lifelong interest in Buddhism.
He was formally introduced to meditation by Paul Reps
Paul Reps
Paul Reps was an American artist, poet, and author. He is best known for his unorthodox haiku-inspired poetry that was published from 1939 onwards. He is considered one of America's first haiku poets....
and later studied Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
and Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
, and was introduced to shikantaza
Shikantaza
is a Japanese term for zazen introduced by Rujing and associated most with the Soto school of Zen Buddhism. Ford cites on p. 224 an opinion that it is "the base of all Zen disciplines." Some people claim that according to Dōgen Zenji, shikantaza i.e...
by Dainin Katagiri
Dainin Katagiri
Jikai Dainin Katagiri , aka Hojo-san Katagiri, was a Soto Zen roshi and the founding abbot of Minnesota Zen Meditation Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he served from 1972 until his death from cancer in 1990...
Roshi.
He has worked as an actor, stevedore
Stevedore
Stevedore, dockworker, docker, dock labourer, wharfie and longshoreman can have various waterfront-related meanings concerning loading and unloading ships, according to place and country....
, typographer, legal secretary
Legal secretary
A legal secretary is a particular category of worker within the legal profession.In the practice of law in the United States, a legal secretary is person who works in the legal profession, typically assisting lawyers. Legal secretaries help by preparing and filing legal documents, such as appeals...
, editor-in-chief, webmaster, and teacher (most frequently of late, Stanford Continuing Studies). Besides Buddhism, he teaches haiku
Haiku in English
Haiku in English is a development of the Japanese haiku poetic form in the English language.Contemporary haiku are written in many languages, but most poets outside of Japan are concentrated in the English-speaking countries....
.
Books
- Preparing the Ground : Poems 1960-1970 (Heirs, International; San Francisco)
- The Pocket Guide to the Internet (Pocket Books; New York) ISBN 0-671-56850-7
- Writers.net: Every Writer's Essential Guide to Online Resources and Opportunities (Prima Publishing; Rocklin, New York) ISBN 0-7615-0641-1
- Editor, What Book!? : Buddha Poems from Beat to Hiphop, introduction by Peter CoyotePeter CoyotePeter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
(Parallax Press; Albany, California) ISBN 0-938077-92-9 (American Book Award) - Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Buddhism (Alpha Books, New York) ISBN 0028641701
- Co-translator, Ten Thousand Lives by Ko UnKo UnKo Un is a South Korean poet. His works have been translated and published in more than 15 countries and he has been imprisoned many times...
, introduction by Robert HassRobert HassRobert L. Hass is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He was awarded the 2007 National Book Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Time and Materials.-Life:...
, (Green Integer: Los Angeles) ISBN 1-933382-06-6 - Co-translator, Flowers of a Moment, 185 brief poems by Ko Un; (Rochester, New York) ISBN 1-929918-88-7 (Northern California Book Award, Translation)
- Co-translator, Songs for Tomorrow: A Collection of Poems 1960-2001 by Ko Un (Green Integer; Los Angeles) ISBN 1-933382-70-8
Anthologies
Gach's work has appeared in more than 25 anthologies, including- 09/11 8:48 am: Documenting America's Greatest Tragedy
- Chicken Soup for the American Soul
- Exiled in the Word: Poems and Other Visions of the Jews from Tribal Times to the Present
- Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond
- Literatures of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
- Technicians of the SacredTechnicians of the SacredTechnicians of the Sacred: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania is a book of spiritual writings and poetry collected from around the world. Compiled by Jerome Rothenberg 1969. ISBN 978-0520049123....
: A Range of Poetries from Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania - Veterans of War, Veterans of Peace
- Visions
- Words Upon the Waters: a benefit for survivors of Katrina
- World Poetry
Periodicals, reviews and articles
Over 175 appearances, including- The American Poetry ReviewThe American Poetry ReviewThe American Poetry Review is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint.Founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg, APR has always been published from editorial offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Berg is one of three editors, along with David Bonanno and Elizabeth...
- AsianArt.Com
- CrazyhorseCrazyhorse (magazine)Crazyhorse is an American magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, and essays. It is published twice yearly by the Department of English and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina...
- Good TimesGood Times (newspaper)Good Times is Santa Cruz County’s free-circulation weekly newspaper founded by Jay Shore and published in Santa Cruz, California since 1975. Good Times is read by more than 100,000 people in the county, a coastal area that includes Capitola, Rio del Mar, Aptos and Watsonville...
- Harvard Divinity Bulletin
- Manoa (journal)Manoa (journal)Mānoa is a literary journal that includes American and international fiction, poetry, artwork, interviews, and essays of current cultural or literary interest. A notable feature of each issue is original translations of contemporary work from Asian and Pacific nations, selected for each issue by a...
- The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
- New American WritingNew American WritingNew American Writing is a once-a-year American literary magazine emphasizing contemporary American poetry, including a range of innovative contemporary writing. The magazine is published in association with San Francisco State University. New American Writing is published by OINK! Press, a...
- The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
- San Francisco Review of BooksSan Francisco Review of BooksSan Francisco Review of Books was a book review periodical published from the mid-1970s to 1997 in the Bay Area. Founding editor-publisher Ronald Nowicki launched his publication April 1975, a time when the San Francisco Chronicle depended on the wire services for its reviews...
- Yoga JournalYoga JournalYoga Journal is an American based media company that publishes a magazine, a website, DVDs, and puts on conferences all devoted to yoga, food and nutrition, fitness, wellness, and fashion and beauty.-Beginnings and Growth:...
Awards
Gach is a recipient of an American Book AwardAmerican Book Award
The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
in 1999 for What Book!?. He is recipient of a Northern California Book Award in translation (2007) for his work on Flowers of a Moment and shortlisted by them (2006) for Ten Thousand Lives, both by Ko Un. He is an honorary member of The Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
. He is recipient of translation grants from the Korea Literary Translation Institute and the Lannan Foundation. Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers
Poets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organization in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers...
, Inc. has supported his readings through their funding initiative.
External links
- Teachings of the Buddha – interview by Marjorie Chiew, The Star (Malaysia), (December 12, 2010)
- Interview with Gach at Writers Write (August 1997)
- Gach's RedRoom.com author page
- Gach's personal home page
- Presentation of "Complete Idiot's Guide to Buddhism (Video)