Meet Anthony Swann

Anthony Swann has been many things.  A chef on a travel train, owner, and operator of a jazz-infused coffee shop, an art enthusiast, an avid world traveler, a friend to many and a lover of life. Through it all, he's written poetry.  His love of poetry and literature was inspired by a high school English teacher and has been constant and strong ever since.  His first full book of original poetry, Paint with Words.

Paint with Words, a book of poetry features twenty hand-picked poems by him from a vast repertoire of poetry written during his lifetime. According to his mentor and teacher, Dr. Carol Ann Russell, “I believe it is an indivisible love—of words, song, art, and jazz-which makes Anthony Swann unique as a poet.” She continues,  “The reality is that Anthony Swann is a rebel outside and inside of time. His wonderings across America have not just been highways, but ley lines and his ear is a human ear, his heart our beating heart.” Anthony has written poetry most of his life and is very adept at reading it. He was born in 1942 and grew up in Crosslake, Minnesota. After attending college, he lived in Minneapolis where he co-founded a jazz coffeehouse called the Broken Drum. He now lives in Bemidji, Minnesota, where he is active in the arts community and has served on the boards of several arts organizations.