Charles Taylor Jr.

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Charles Taylor Jr. (born 1943) is an American author. He was born in Minneapolis, but lived most of his life in Texas. He no longer teaches creative writing at Texas A&M and started a small press called Slough Press, publishing from 1973 to 2011.^{[citation needed]} His contribution to building the literature scene in Austin, Texas, includes activities as both a writer and publisher. He published leading poets, fiction, and non-fiction writers, whose books received numerous awards and were sometimes later published by larger presses. His poetry collection What do You Want, Blood? received the 1988 Austin Book Award.^{[citation needed]} He has taught in the NEA Poets-in-the-Schools Program and was CETA Poet-in-Residence for the City of Salt Lake.^{[citation needed]}

Along with his ex-wife, Pat Littledog, Taylor co-operated one of the Paperbacks Plus Books in Austin, Texas, from 1980 to 1988. The store became an important literary center for the Southwest sponsoring literary readings and plays as well as serving as a home for Slough Press.^{[citation needed]} Business owners John and Marquetta Tilton of Dallas opened several store locations run by famous Texas poets and writers who had not yet achieved widespread notoriety: poet Dr. Ricardo Sánchez in San Antonio and Dr. Hedwig Gorski's infamous Voltaire's Basement bookstore in downtown Austin. All branches of Paperbacks Plus allowed serious poets to live with their families on the store premises while providing a small income managing or selling at the location.^{[citation needed]} Each became a hub of literary and performance activities across generations and styles nurturing the offbeat talents and lifestyles Central Texas is known for. These activities, venues, and people set the stage during the late 1970s and 80s for Austin Poetry Slam scenes.^[1]