Howard Camner is the author of sixteen books of poetry. His works are in the most prominent literary collections in the world, including ten historical archives and six royal libraries. He was nominated for Poet Laureate of Florida in 1980 and has received the Fine Arts Press Poetry Award, the MiPo Literary Award, and the Library of Congress Award for his contribution to U.S. cultural arts. During his years in New York, Camner was the headliner with the West End Poetry Troupe where he performed nightly at the famed West End Jazz Club, usually in clown makeup and often backed by members of Duke Ellington's orchestra. Camner's stage persona became as well known as his poetry, described in Broadway Magazine as "a bittersweet Chaplinesque street character with a lot on his mind". Camner is popularly known in literary circles as "Master of the Surreal", a title given him by newspaper columnist and literary activist Lenny DellaRocca. With over 1500 published poems, Camner is recognized as Florida's most widely published poet. He represents the United States in the Poet 2000 Sculpted Library, an international exhibition of the works of contemporary poets permanently housed in Dublin, Ireland. Camner resides in Miami, Florida with his wife and children.