Writers of the Catskills: In Conversation with Mikhail Horowitz (TMWYR Ep. #59)

Writers of the Catskills: In Conversation with Mikhail HorowitzA series of self-portraits by Catskills’ literary voices (Photo Credit: Dion Ogust)These are clips from my conversation on November 21, 2025, with Mikhail Horowitz, poet, writer, journalist, musician, satirist, performance artist and activist. Mikhail has written more than 1,000 poems (“maybe 25 are any good,” he says), along with book reviews, spoofs and satires. His work includes “Spoon River Apology,” performed at the Woodstock Community Center last June. Mikhail lived in the Town of Saugerties for 34 years, has been living in Woodstock for the past three years, and also lived in Woodstock briefly in the 1980s. In our conversation Mik described his creative process as relying on “a gift from the Muse.”Mik was introduced to me by my Woodstock friend, Frank Spinelli, who participated in the discussion, as did my Woodstock friend, Dion Ogust.They were both also photographing Mik as we talked.A condensed and edited version of this interview was published on December 25, 2025, in The Overlook, a nonprofit news outlet serving the Catskills communities of Hunter, Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, Shandaken, and Woodstock. and my interview with Mikhail can be heard on my podcast, “Tell Me What You’re Reading”, available on Apple Podcasts,  Spotify  and wherever else you listen to podcasts.Howard Altarescu