Humble Midwest Human, Poet, Educator, and Photographer
Anthony Procopio Ross
The What's What
Anthony Procopio Ross (he/him) writes like lifting two fingers from the wheel to acknowledge other cars on two-lane highways. You can read his poetry in print and online, in journals and magazines nationwide. His writing and interdisciplinary image-making practices have found support through Charlotte Street Foundation, Tallgrass, Art Farm Nebraska, friends, family, and strangers. When you meet him face-to-face, he'll probably ask in that soft-spoken voice of his for you to just call him Tony.
Work
Re-Imagining The Everyday
Having grown up in an age of cable television, social media, instant notifications, COVID-19, and now A.I., Tony's writing and teaching work ask readers and participants to consider how many of us live under the thumb of cold, uncaring systems, often unknowingly, and sometimes through our own actions. In this era of inattentiveness, he imagines new ways to connect in the wreckage of 21st-century loneliness, rampant doomerism, hyper-scrutiny, and reductive irony.
Contact
Drop me a line
"Anything that is human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable." --Mr Rogers
Photos and Poetry
Published Work
Photography Publications, Editorially Selected
“"Farmhouse Bedroom," "Farmhouse Living Room," and "Thinking Hut Window & Antler" Wild Roof Journal. 2026.
“Memorial Day Flowers,” “Past Kimeo,” “Uncle Ron Shows Me the Sun Dial,” & “Uncle Ron Shows Me a Sleeping Deer” Outskirts Literary Journal. 2026.
“Grid” Kansas City Voices. 2024.Poetry Publications, Editorially Selected
“Sitting With My Father on the Metro Blue Line” I-70 Review, 2026.
“Bad Timeline” Birdcoat Quarterly, 2025.
“Dating Profile” Poem. Cattle Call Review, 2025.
“Brian, My Spider Plant Dreams of Dismantling The Empire” Poem. Blue Bag Press, 2025.
“Tending Yours” Poem. Kansas City Voices, 2024.
“Myth Building Exercise” Poem. Same Faces Collective, 2024.
“I Accidentally Read Al Pacino as A.I. Pacino” Poem Review. Bear Review. 2024.
“Playlist” Poem. The Laurel Review, 2023.
“Security” Poem. Passengers’ Journal, 2023.
“The Silence” Poem. The Inflectionist Review, 2023.
“Bus driver” Poem. McNeese Review, 2022.
“Of Being Neighbors.” Book Review. The Inflectionist Review, 2022.
“Connoisseur of roads” Poem. Bear Review, 2021.
“A fit of American Pointillism #3” Poem. Warm Milk Publishing, 2021.
“thought that was you, breathing” Poem. Evocations Review, 2020.
“So, You’re Told” Poem. The Laurel Review, 2020.
“When life says, ‘When life gives you lemons’” Poem. Levee Magazine, 2019.
“Abduction” Flash Fiction. Thrice Publishing, 2018.
“She reminded me of winter” Poem. Medium Weight Forks, 2016.
Workshops and Teaching
A Teaching Moment
Tony believes in the life-altering, radically transformative powers of education to uplift and sustain the good in this world. Fred Rogers and Bob Ross, LaVar Burton and Alan Watts: these individuals championed a better way of living with one another, and Tony tips his bookish glasses to them, to all educators who paved the way for him and the art of teaching.
Public-Facing Workshops
The Fruiting Body of: Poetics of Decomposition & Entanglement. Tiny Spoon Residency. 2026
An Ear to the Wind. A Workshop on Listening, Exchange, and Poetry. School for Rural Arts and Culture. 2026
Sitting with the Question Zine Workshop. Flagship Books. 2025
Dorothy Day Cabin Residency Poetry Workshop. Riverside Midcontinent Public Library. 2025
“Zines, Pronounced: ‘Zeens,’” Conference Presentation. Cavelier Conference on Writing and Literature. 2024
Generative Workshop Leader. “On the Poetry of Place”. Blip Roasters. 2023.
AmeriCorps Tutor. Primary Reading Instruction. 2022.
Creative Writing Instructor for Adults with Disabilities. Topics on Poetry, Fiction, CNF. Waseca, MN. Cow Tipping Press. 2021.
Visiting Highschool Poetry Lecturer. JWP Highschool. “Love Poetry” & “Erasure”. 2021.
Writing Tutor. Northwest Missouri State University. 2018-2019.
College Courses
Special Topics in Poetry: Re-imagining the Everyday (KCAI)
Writing Seminar: Dreaming (KCAI)
Critical Studies I: Undercurrents (KCAI)
Composition I with a Disability Narratives Focus (JCCC)
Composition II with a Disability Narratives Focus (JCCC)
First-Year Writing Seminar (Park University)
Introduction to Creative Writing (Minnesota State U.)