Striking Back

Eric Barr taught acting and directing at University of California, Riverside from 1975 until 2013. He was the Chairman of the UCR Theatre Department for over 30 years and the Founding Director of the UCR Palm Desert MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts.
Barr was a has written screenplays, plays, essays and three of his short stories have appeared in Connotation Press In addition to his writing, Eric has worked as a theatre director and acting coach; He was the Artistic Director of the Porthouse Theatre in Cleveland, taught movement for actors at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting in Los Angeles, and worked as an acting coach with the National Theatre of the Deaf.
Since surviving a series of strokes Barr has written a one-man show, A Piece of my Mind, about his surgeries, hospitalizations, and rehab, that he performs, around the country, for hospitals, med schools, stroke associations, and general theatre audiences. His podcasts on stroke recovery, video of his one man show, and documentary can be found at www.apieceofmymind.net
In 2020, Barr began to write poetry to help his memory which was damaged by his strokes eight years earlier. His first poem On Visiting My Dying Friend was published in the collection California's Best Emerging Poets of 2020. Three other poems were published in The Journal of Radical Wonder.

Eric Barr's poetry pulls no punches and is filled with strength and hope despite the pain of his life after a stroke. Where another poet might become Pollyanna-ish, Barr simply faces the difficulties of his life with courage, dignity, and humor. It is an exceptional collection and exceptionally powerful.
-John Brantingham

Working to recover from a near-fatal stroke, forced to retire from the teaching position he loved, Professor Eric Barr fought back with courage and unyielding determination. Now he has created a stirring and often darkly hilarious collection of poems that speak to that journey. He has never stopped teaching and inspiring as this book shows us with heartbreaking humanity and elegant wit.
-Stu Krieger