Philip Heldrich was an American author of poetry, essays, short stories, and literary criticism, including , winner of the and , winner of the First Series Award for Creative Nonfiction. His work appeared widely in anthologies—such as edited by John A. Murray and edited by Kay Cattarulla --and literary journals including , , , , , , , , , and more. His literary criticism and reviews have appeared in Studies in Short Fiction, , , , , and others. About , author Jonathan Holden remarked:
"In his magnificent poem 'Momentum,' as throughout Good Friday, the poet Philip Heldrich, like the late W. C. Williams, demonstrates audaciously how, while 'pulled and tugged in the swirl of rush hour traffic,' we can, out of the American quotidian, locate and frame that which is beautiful."
Final Judge X.J. Kennedy added:
"Philip Heldrich writes shapely poems that go places and share some wisdom with us.... He can capture a good deal of territory in a limited number of well-crafted words."
About his award-winning collection of essays, , the American Library Associations's noted:
"Poet and pop culture aficionado Heldrich searches for the lyrical within his small midwestern meatpacking town and beyond. For Heldrich, lover of words, there is beauty to be found at the local dump: magazines, discarded beverage bottles, even machine names. The resulting essays are a happy melding of social commentary with the best sort of travel writing. A finely crafted ode to target practice and male bonding set in a high country meadow in Colorado quietly evolves into a memorial for a lost friend. Another piece perfectly captures the surreal nature of the academic conference, made even more dreamlike by taking place in Norman, Oklahoma, five hours before a championship football game. Driving around "out there," whether it be Disneyland or the Central Plains, the author puts pen to paper, accurately capturing the essence of American culture."
Heldrich was diagnosed with cancer in early 2009. He underwent chemotherapy treatment and continued to teach courses in writing fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. He died on November 11, 2010, due to complications from his illness.
