Junior Burke

Junior Burke, born Thomas Burke Bishop, Jr., is an American fiction writer, songwriter and educator.

FICTION

Burke is author of the Something Gorgeous (Farfalla, McMillan & Parrish, 2005). This work of speculative fiction explored the background of the era that spawned The Great Gatsby, and was lauded for its invention by the UK's Historical Novels Review. In 2013, in a slightly revised version, it became available as an e/book. "Aaron", an excerpt from a work-in-progress, appeared in "Litscapes: Collected US Writings 2015" from Steerage Press. "A Thousand Eyes", an eco-horror novel, will be published in May 2018 in the UK and US by Cosmic Egg Books, an imprint of John Hunt Ltd.

SONGWRiTER

In 2004, the song cycle "Someone Else's Dream" was performed by vocalist Ethelyn Friend with piano and string quartet at The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. "While You Were Gone" (compact disc, 2007, Red Thread Records) because of its lyrical content, was named by New York's Bowery Poetry Club as one of the best CDs of that year. Janet Feder's 2012 recording of Burke's Rimbaud-inspired "White Men Landing" was singled out by the publication Part-Time Audiophile as being "An understated gem that resonates long after the last chord has faded." "Mythos", an original musical based on the Greek myths, written with composers Brian Schey and Erin Humphrey, was produced at The Auburn Public Theater, Auburn, New York, in the summer of 2013. "One October Midnight", a full-length musical based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe (also written with Schey and Humphrey and also in 2013) received its world premier at The Finger Lakes Theatre Festival in Hamilton, New York. In the fall of 2017, "Spot of Time", a collection of original, poetically-based songs, will be released on the New York-based Fast Speaking Music label, produced by Max Davies.

EDUCATOR

In 1999, Burke was invited to Naropa University to teach in the Summer Writing Program and, for Naropa, designed and implemented a highly successful low residency MFA degree in Creative Writing. Since 2004, he has served as a Lecturer in The University of Colorado's Film Studies department. After three years of directing Naropa’s low/res program, he was tapped to be Chair of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics founded by poets Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg and served from January 2006 to June 2010. Representing Naropa in 2011, Burke was co-curator of the first-of-its kind Poetry and Cinema Conference, collaborating with CU Film Studies, CU's Brakhage Center, The Mellon Foundation and Tom Gunning of the The University of Chicago's Department of Cinema and Media Studies. Burke's account of this event, "Notice What You Notice", appeared in Bomb Magazine. Burke founded the online magazine "not enough night" in 2005 and served as Executive Editor until 2014. Also in 2014, he designed and introduced a BA Minor In Film & Media Studies at Naropa. As of 2017, he moved to Naropa's expanding Interdisciplinary Studies program.