Jeff Walt was born and raised in rural Pennsylvania among a community of railroad workers, brick layers, and stripminers. He's been employed as a cowboy at Walt Disney World; a gallery attendant; a customer service trainer; a cook; masseur; barista; and as an adjunct English composition instructor. He graduated from Goddard College in Vermont with his MFA in Writing and Literature in 1993. Jeff has placed in various national poetry contests and is best known for poetry in which he depicts the grind of working-class life--tiresome workloads, the temporary joys of addiction, struggling relationships. He lives in Palm Desert, CA and is Founder & Director of The Desert Rat Residency for Writers, which sponsors The Desert Rat Poetry Prize. In addition, he is one of two Series Editors for The Keystone Chapbook Prize at Ron Mohring’s Seven Kitchens Press. For many years, he was the Steve Kowit Poetry Prize Coordinator, which is part of the San Diego Arts & Entertainment Guild with The Kowit Awardees published in the San Diego Poetry Annual. His book, Leave Smoke, was published on Oct. 1, 2019 by Gival Press and was awarded the 2020 Housatonic Book Award given by the Western Connecticut State University MFA Program “…to promote excellent writing, to identify authors who serve as professional role models for writing students…. “