James Levin

James Levin was born in Poughkeepsie, New York in 1956, lived briefly in Burlington, Vermont, and grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was there that his young life took place—a life full of experiences—his family life, the experience of the seasons especially winter, and his own internal changes as he reached adolescence.Much of this became subject matter for his poetry. From there he attended the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. A new world opened for him—the freedom of being on his own and the study of French. That study allowed him to spend his junior year abroad in Aix-en- Provence, France. After graduating with a degree in French he searched for his next opportunity. He applied to and was accepted into the Peace Corps. He used his French skills and worked for two years as a Health Educator in a village in Cameroon, Africa. These experiences also became subjects for his poetry. After his service he searched for a satisfying career. He found that in his new home, Los Angeles, California. He worked as an elementary school teacher for 33 years until his retirement in 2018. This period of time was his adult life— he owned a home with his wife in Burbank, California, raised his sons, wrote poetry, lived his life. His lovely wife died in 2021 after a long illness. From there his life has shifted back to Cameroon. In 2025 he married a Cameroonian woman, the mother of his oldest son. Waterfall Moments, his most recent book of poetry, his third book after Where the Parrot Flies and Nestled in Memory, reflects James Levin’s interpretation of his life, his observations, and his way of viewing the world.