(Burt, Stephen) Stephen Burt (who also goes by Steph and Stephanie) is Professor of English at Harvard and the author of several previous books of poetry and literary criticism, among them Belmont and Close Calls with Nonsense, as well as The Poem Is You. His latest collection Advice from the Lights (Graywolf Press) is a brilliant and candid exploration of gender and identity and a series of looks at a formative past. It’s part nostalgia, part confusion, and part an ongoing wondering: How do any of us achieve adulthood? And why would we want to, if we had the choice?
