Mark Nepo

Mark Nepo is a poet and spiritual adviser who has taught poetry and spirituality for over 40 years. Nepo is best known for his New York Times #1 bestseller, The Book of Awakening. In addition, he has published 23 books and recorded 15 audio projects. A cancer survivor, Nepo writes and teaches about the journey of inner transformation and the life of relationships.

Nepo has a doctorate in English. He taught for 18 years at the State University of New York in Albany, New York. He then moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. In his 30s, he was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. This struggle helped to form his philosophy of experiencing life fully while staying in a relationship with an unknowable future.

In 2010 Oprah Winfrey chose Nepo ′'s The Book of Awakening as one of her Ultimate Favorite Things for her farewell season, launching it to the #1 spot on the New York Times bestseller list. In addition, Nepo has appeared several times with Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday program on OWN TV and was named to Oprah's SuperSoul100 list of visionaries and influential leaders. Robin Roberts also interviewed him on Good Morning America. Oprah has also written about Nepo in her O! magazine column, "What I Know for Sure," and featured him in her "The Life You Want" class on Being Fully Present in April 2022.

Recent work includes Surviving Storms, The Book of Soul, a Nautilus Book Award Winner and named by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2020; Drinking from the River of Light, a Nautilus Book Award Winner; More Together Than Alone cited as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2018 by Spirituality & Practice; Things That Join the Sea and the Sky, a Nautilus Book Award Winner; The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meeting, a Nautilus Book Award Winner; The One Life We're Given cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2016; Inside the Miracle, selected by Spirituality & Health Magazine as one of the top ten best books of 2015; The Endless Practice, cited by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2014; and Seven Thousand Ways to Listen, which won the 2012 Books for a Better Life Award.

The Exquisite Risk was listed by Spirituality & Practice as one of the Best Spiritual Books of 2005, calling it "one of the best books we've ever read on what it takes to live an authentic life." In addition, the mark became a regular columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine in 2017. In 2015, Mark was given a Life-Achievement Award by AgeNation. And in 2016, he was named by Watkins: Mind Body Spirit as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.