About Steve Rand
Steve Rand has traveled extensively with students throughout his career. One of his favorite places on the planet is Rwanda, Africa.
Travel writing excerpt, first morning in Africa. I woke as the sun rose over the wall surrounding the backyard of a home on a hill in Kigali, Rwanda in East Africa. I sat on a porch with a roof, admiring the orange-yellow-blue hue of dawn while drinking delicious Rwandan coffee for the first time. I smirked as I recalled what a dear friend once proclaimed, "You can judge a country by its coffee, wine, and ice cream." When I pointed out that many countries don't make their own ice cream, or wine for that matter, he said, "Well, that's a country not worth going to." I think he would have liked Rwanda. Its coffee made up for the fact it lacked vineyards and freezers.
A Journey Through Experience and Education
Life led Steve in unexpected directions. While in college, he started a family and later joined the Navy, serving as a photographer. At sea, during long stretches of quiet, he filled notebooks with stories and reflections.
Travel writing excerpt: In north India, near the corner of where Nepal meets China, lives the sacred mountains of the Panchachuli Peaks. Their majesty is challenging to capture because you cannot climb the five peaks. You cannot hold the peaks' ruggedness in your hands. Instead, you must admire their form and function from afar. How precious is a world where you cannot ascend such heights or pray while touching the clouds. This world of ours transforms into whispers without the machinery creating the din of day. A glorious day.
His debut memoir, A Mother's Prayer, recounts his mother's thirteen-year battle with cancer while raising three children alone. Intimate, honest, and deeply compassionate, the book is both a tribute and an exploration of family resilience.
His upcoming poetry collection, A Constellation of Mourning, continues these themes through metaphor, image, and introspection, drawing influence from Emily Dickinson, Lorca, Langston Hughes, W.S. Merwin, and the magic-realist traditions of Gabriel García Márquez and Toni Morrison.
A Literary Style Shaped by Many Worlds
Across genres, Steve blends clarity with abstraction, memory with imagination. His work explores the human experience, inviting readers to reflect on their own lives and emotions.
- Emotional, grounded in lived experience and inner reflection
- Metaphorical, shaped by poetic influence and imagery
- Expansive, reaching from personal truth to universal themes
Whether memoir, poetry, or fiction, Steve's writing reflects a search for understanding love, loss, and our human frailty.
Explore Steve's Books
Home, Family, & the Landscape of Inspiration
Steve lives in Vermont with his wife, surrounded by mountains, forests, and seasons that inspire creativity. They have four children and two grandsons, who enrich their life and art.
He also serves as the Director for Civic Engagement at Norwich University, supporting student growth and community connection. When not writing, he enjoys skiing, hiking, and mountain biking — activities that give him space to think, observe, and imagine.
