Jason Trask

Midway through his sophomore year, Trask quit college and joined the army, spending most of his service time in Giessen, Germany, where his primary job was to wash Major Morgan's coffee cup. Following Trask’s discharge, he remained in Giessen, studying German at the Akademisches Auslandsamt, and later philosophy at Justus Liebig Universität.

He returned to the States and completed his BA in philosophy at the Columbia University School of General Studies and later attended the City College of New York graduate writing program. After receiving his MA, he taught English as an adjunct at City College, Fashion Institute of Technology, and New Jersey Institute of Technology. During his final three years in NYC, he taught in a public high school on Rikers Island.

In 1994, he moved to Maine with his wife Eliza Beghe and three sons, where he taught high school English in South Paris and later in an alternative education program in Norway.

Since retiring in 2017, he has remained in western Maine where he spends his days writing. His novel I’m Not Muhammad was published in 2011 by Red Wheelbarrow Books. His memoir The New Plantation: Lessons from Rikers Island was published in June of 2019 by Deerbrook Editions.