The Story

Jef Harris is an avid poet who began writing lyric poetry in 1961 in Chicago. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he gave impromptu readings wherever he went, backing himself up on acoustic guitar.

In Germany, he’d walk into a piano bar, sit at a piano, play, and either sing or recite his poetry. He once said, “each song begins with a poem or a prayer.”

His poetry has been published by The World of Poetry Press, 1982; The New York Poetry Foundation Anthology, 1986; The American Poetry Anthology, 1983 and 1986; and other publications during the 1980s – 1990s, in Germany and America.

In the Army, Jef became a prolific technical writer, which resulted in several technical reports and manuals. After military retirement, his technical and business writing skills were in great demand, and he spent nine years devoting his talent to those genres.

However, in 2003, he pledged a return to poetic expression. To him, “poetry not only speaks from the soul but also from the spirit of a living God dwelling inside, who sometimes permits the soul to speak.”