Andrews was born in Chicago and studied international relations at Johns Hopkins University and political science at Harvard. His first book, Edge, was published in 1973.

Language poetry

Together with Charles Bernstein he edited L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine, which ran to 13 issues between 1978 and 1981 and (along with other magazines such as This, A Hundred Posters, Big Deal, Dog City, Hills, Là Bas, Oculist Witnesses, QU, and Roof) was one of the most important outlets for Language poetry. In 1984 he and Bernstein published most of the contents of the 13 issues in The L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Book.

Andrews rejects the classical notion of poetry as the 'direct treatment' of things in language, arguing that the only thing that can be so treated is language itself.

Andrews and Politics

Since 1975, Andrews has been a professor of political science at Fordham University. His courses take an unorthodox look at the political system. Looking outside the mainstream paradigm, he harshly criticizes what he calls the US government's policies of oppression and subversion.

Andrews appeared on the O'Reilly Factor in October 2006 after a Fordham student who interned on the program complained about Andrews' leftist views.

Publications

Andrews has published about forty books of poetry, either on his own or in collaboration with other writers, as well as a number of books of essays. His books include I Don't Have Any Paper So Shut Up (Or, Social Romanticism) (1992) and Ex Why Zee: Performance Texts, Collaborations with Sally Silvers, Word Maps, Bricolage & Improvisation (1995). Designated Heartbeat (Salt Publishing, 2006; ISBN 1-84471-068-8) and Swoon Noir (Chax Press, 2007; ISBN 978-0-925904-48-5) brings Andrews well into the 21st century. Also of note, recent projects (and e-reprints of earlier publications) are also appearing on-line.

The following works by Andrews have been republished in e-book format at Eclipse, which is a free on-line archive focusing on digital facsimiles of original works by various authors:

• Acappella (1973)
• Corona (Providence, RI: Burning Deck Press, 1973)
• Edge (Washington, DC: Arry Press, for Some Of Us Press, 1973)
• Vowels (New York: O Press, 1976)
• Film Noir (Providence, RI: Burning Deck, 1978)
• Praxis (Tuumba Press, 1978)
• Joint Words [with John M. Bennett] (Columbus, Ohio: Luna Bisonte Prods, 1979)
• L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E Magazine [Editor, with Charles Bernstein]
• LEGEND {with Charles Bernstein, Ray DiPalma, Steve McCaffery, and Ron Silliman}
• The Millennium Project
• Toothpick, Lisbon, & the Orcas Islands [Editor]