Jay Bradford Fowler, Jr., was born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 7, 1951.  In 1987, he received a Bachelor of Arts in English at George Mason University where he was editor of Phoebe-The George Mason Review. That same year Fowler won the American Poetry Association's Grand Prize and two other awards in their Winter 1987 National Poetry Competition.  A prolific and well-recognized poet, his poems have appeared  in national magazines, such as The American Poetry Review, America, Anthology of Magazine Verse & Yearbook of American Poetry (1984 and 1988), Bouillabaisse, The Classical Bulletin, Yankee, and Cosmic Trend of Canada. Books by Fowler include Psalmbook for the White Butterfly (1985), Writing Down the Light (1987), Who Will Remember? (1989), The Onlooker (1990), Living at the Light House (1990), Laying Siege to the Light (1991), Looking Back onConsciousness (1993), The Longing For Paradise (1994), and The Soul (1995).

The following poem,"Dawn," is from Fowler's Psalmbook for the White Butterfly:

1.
after the painful tuning for the song,
after the dog sounds,
the feverish legs in the long wool socks,
the pushing off at midnight, fog
calls, crossings from the kitchen, kisses
from deep coats, an Atlantic poem, after
the music of the lights, the cherished
small life, the ache that seems alive
in the thermal house, after these
there will be

2.
the open boat,
the exorcism of the pig-eyed lights
the painful florescence, slaying of the animal -
his huge dark side, the sacrifice of this
time, devistation, soon, of the moon cropped
fields and houes, kill of the squirrel black -
all this by the blue swarthe, the healing
bandage, ointment of color, the ring in
the upstairs out of doors, O the hand on
the latch of the gate, flower to my wrist, love
in the midst, visitation, he gown on
the stair window frames, until we step
on the open boat

3.
without reluctance, at last
the shift from the natural, ride up to the rail
to climb on the water with a wing, the melting
of suave before the sun
is there
like a burning
crucifix, like a gull we watch like
a mountain turning into a flower,
the fruition of a destiny, coming alive
for a child, like a poem in a book of psalms
we know we could write if we
could die like the final emptiness
that is pulse, that is the beauty in the cell, music
in time, loss like water, the garden of
our way, entering the trees, an evening
of twilight where there is always
more to be loved, of your life bending like
twilight over the corn stalks
forever.

Outstanding critical response to Fowler's distinguished poetry includes the following:

    "Jay Bradford Fowler, poet and philosopher, embodies the true spirit of Aloha.  He has much to say about the meaning of compassion and how its expression can improve the lives of all of us.  Like a modern-day Job, he has questioned God and the universe, and has continued to find himself confronting ever-greater 'Mystery'.  Yet, even if many of the questions cannot be answered satisfactorily, is it not the nature of the human being to ponder, to ask, to seek? To want to understand, even if only a limited understanding is possible.  Is not such questioning an essential step in extending the boundaries of our knowledge?  But Fowler does not stop with the questions.  He arrives at answers to what is really valuable in our daily lives, and provides an essential key to 0111 - growth and survival as individuals, as a species, and as a planet."

"One of the greatest lyricists of the decade" - Norm Moser, Illuminations Press"

"Jay is a magician of true inner vision" - George Le Grand, editor, Cosmic Trend

"[Fowler was] meant to show people their souls" - Dr. John Heath

"Terrific and original" - C.K. Williams

"Very good poetry" - The Boston Literary Review

"Greater than Ginsburg!" - Roger Lathbury, Professor of English, George Mason University

"[Fowler is] here to help out the great spiritual leaders of the world" - Dr. John Heath

In addition to Fowler's published works, the collection contains multiple manuscript versions of many of his better known poems. As the collection is processed, it will become generally available for research and study.

Special Collections & Archives preserves and makes available to all students, faculty, and researchers many kinds of original and scholarly materials. Subject areas in SC&A include Northern Virginiana, Planned Communities, Congressional Papers, Performing Arts, Maps, the Civil War, and George Mason University. Formats in SC&A include manuscripts, rare books, playbills, musical scores, audio and videotapes, architectural drawings, photographs, and slides. 
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