EDUCATION

1995-1997: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
Master of Fine Art (MFA) in Poetry

1990-1992: Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota
Master of Science (MS) in Feminist Theory and Women’s Studies

1985-1986: University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska
One year of workshops and seminars in creative writing

1980-1983: Winchester School of Art, Winchester, Hants, United Kingdom
Bachelor of Arts (BA) with Honours in Fine Art Printmaking and Bookmaking

MAGAZINE PUBLICATIONS

Dogwood Spring (2010). “Returning.”

Sycamore Review Spring (2010). “Triptych.”

Briar Cliff Review Spring (2010). “The Alchemist.”

Chautauqua Summer (2009). “Espenbaum in Bergen-Belsen, May 2007,” “Growing up in Bergen-Belsen: Sleeping with Anne Frank,” “Growing up in Bergen-Belsen: The Insect Collector,” “Road Kill.”

Atlanta Review Spring/Summer (2009). “Ropes.”

Notre Dame Review 27.Winter/Spring (2009). “Looking at Photographs, Imperial War Museum, London,” “Late Days of Wreckage.”

The Cortland Review Spring (2009). “A Man Walks into A Bar.”

Sycamore Review 2.1.Winter/Spring (2008). “Goats.”

The Missouri Review 31.1. Spring (2008). “The Insect Collector’s Demise,” “How to Use a Field Guide,” “Growing up in Bergen-Belsen: The Chrysalis.”

Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry 52.1 (2008). “Triptych with Birds.”

Notre Dame Review Winter/Spring (2007). “The Centerfold,” “The Lover.”

Great River Review Spring/Summer (2007). “In the World Museum.”

Crazyhorse 27.Fall (2007). “Frank O’Hara in Paradise.”

Southern Poetry Review 45.1 (2007). “Lamb.”

MARGIE: American Journal of Poetry 6 (2007). “Growing up in Bergen-Belsen: The First Kiss.”

Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry 50.1 (2006). “Growing up in Bergen-Belsen.”

Winning Writers Nov. (2006). “Selling Honey on the Road to Sarajevo,” “Untitled,” “Love and the Hangman in Croatia.”

Chautauqua Summer (2006). “Aurelia aurita.”

MARGIE: American Journal of Poetry 5 (2006). “Dinner in the Suburbs.”

Tor House Newsletter Summer (2006). “Four Girls.”

Winning Writers Nov. (2005). “The Map,” “Infidelity,” “For Those Buried for Decades in Darkness.”

MARGIE: American Journal of Poetry 3 (2004). “Triptych for my Father,” “The Helmet.”

Missouri Review 27 (2004). “Horses,” “The Rest of Us,” “To the Reader,” “The Last Supper.”

Words and Images (2004). “Crow.”

Gulf Coast 16.1 (2004). “Permission.”

Post Road (2004). “The Wings of Butterflies,” “The Eyes of Fish.”

Another Chicago Magazine 41 (2002). “Love Walking out of the Room.”

Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry 46.1 (2002). “Suicide Notes at the End of Summer,” “Atomic Nightmare,” “Royal Coachman on a Barbless Hook.”

MARGIE: American Journal of Poetry 1 (2002). “Boys Throwing Baseball.”

Tor House Newsletter Summer (2001). “The Hermit Thrush.”

Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry 44.2 (2001). “The Swan,” “New Shoes.”

Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry 44.1 (2000). “The 14 Movements: A Prayer for Robert Lee,” “Wheatfield with Crows.”

Water~Stone Review 3.1 (2000). “Not Drinking, Alone: A Letter at Thanksgiving,” “Damage.”

Tor House Newsletter Summer (2000). “The Swan.”

Marlboro Review Winter/Spring (1999). “University Hospital, Liverpool.”

Water~Stone Review 2.1 (1999). “The Cherry Picker.”

Chiron Review 60.Winter (1999). “Abortion as Ecstasy.”

Journal of the American Medical Association February (1998). “Night Nurse.”

Poems and Plays 5 (1998). “The Work they Love,” “Fidelity,” “Requiem.”

WordWrights 13.Summer (1998). “The Paramedics.”

Alaska Quarterly Review 17.1-2.Fall/Winter (1998). “Consummation.”

Northwest Review 33.2 (1995). “Hawkmoths.”

Poets On 19.1.Winter (1995). “How the Birds Help,” “The Journey You Cope With.”

Stand Magazine UK 36.1.Winter (1994-5). “Aunt Alice’s Ashes,” “A True Story: The Beech Trees.”

Green Fuse 20.Spring/Summer (1994). “The Caves of El Capitan.”

Appalachia June (1994). “Ravens over Chruach Mhártain.”

Weber Studies 11.3.Fall (1994). “A True Story: The Mourning Cloaks.”

Mankato Poetry Review Dec. (1994). “Bodies that will not Close,” “The Winter Lake.”

Indiana Review 16.2 (1993). “The Graves of Animals,” “Back View.”

Green Fuse 18.Spring/Summer (1993). “The Questions I Ask.”

Snowy Egret 56.1-2.Spring (1993). “The Animals Passing,” “Climbing Lessons.”

Snowy Egret 55.2.Winter (1992). “Marsh Hawk.”

OTHER PUBLICATIONS/CREDITS

“The Insect Collector’s Demise” The Best American Poetry 2009, Eds. David Wagoner and David Lehman. New York: Scribner, Sept. 2009.

Poems published in Wild Song: Poems of the Natural World, Ed. John Daniel, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1998, an anthology of poems first published in Wilderness magazine.

Poems published in the 1996 Yearbook of Magazine Verse, Monitor Press, 1996.

Poems broadcast on “The Book at One,” Irish Public Radio, Dublin, 2002.

Poems included in an audio recording produced by The Hospice Poetry Recording Project, Seattle, 1998.

RESIDENCIES

Visiting writer (volunteer), Gloucester School, Hohne, Germany (2007), (2008), (2009).

Visiting/traveling writer, Palmer Station, Antarctica (2004/2005) with the National Science Foundation’s Artists and Writers Program.

Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Residency (2005) Moose Lake, Minnesota.

Blacklock Nature Sanctuary Residency (2002) Moose Lake, Minnesota.

SELECTED AWARDS/NOMINATIONS

2010 writing grant from The Elizabeth George Foundation 2009 Briar Cliff Review Poetry Prize

2008 Poetry Prize (from the Chautauqua Literary Journal)

2008 McKnight Fellowship for Writers (Poetry)

2007 Wabash Prize in Poetry (from the Sycamore Review)

2007 Editors’ Prize in Poetry (from The Missouri Review)

2007 Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize (from Crazyhorse)

2007 The Ernest Sandeen Prize in Poetry (University of Notre Dame)

2007 Minnesota Book Award in Poetry

2006 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant

2005 Winning Writers international award for War Poetry

2004 Larry Levis Prize (from Missouri Review)

2004 Paumanok Award (Visiting Writers Program at the State University of New York at Farmingdale)

The 2002 Chicago Literary Award for Poetry

The 2002 Marjorie J. Wilson Award for Excellence in Poetry (from MARGIE: American Journal of Poetry)

2002 Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant

The 2001 Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry

2000 Writers’ Week International Poetry Award, Listowel, Ireland

1999 Chiron Review Poetry Prize

1999 SASE/Jerome Fellowship in Poetry

The 1999 The Loft National Prize in Poetry

The 1998 Marlboro Prize for Poetry (from Marlboro Review)

The 1998 Wendy Norins Writing Award

Poems published during 1998, 1999 and 2001 nominated for The Pushcart Prize

The 1997 Miriam McFall Starlin Award for Poetry (University of Oregon)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

2000-Present: Poetry instructor at The Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Loft is the largest independent literary arts center in the United States. Its mission is to support the artistic development of writers, to foster a writing community, and to build an audience for literature. My duties include teaching advanced, intermediate, and beginning poetry classes, as well as teaching theme-based classes and workshops—on metrics, poetry in translation, ekphrasis, and nature poetry, for example.

2006-Present: Advisor with the Loft Literary Center’s Master Track Program, Minneapolis, Minnesota
The Master Track is a program for students who are looking for an alternative to the expense and constraints of an MFA program. Designed on the model of a traditional apprenticeship, students work closely with an advisor for two years. I work with 4 to 6 students per term, helping them: (1) identify their writing values and goals, (2) establish sustainable writing habits and practices, and (3) build writing skills and their understanding of craft.

2001-Present: Independent contractor/Poet in the Schools, Minnesota
Poet in residence with students from Grade 3 (8 years) to Grade 12 (17-18 years).

2001-Present: Writer in Residence, Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota
Co-designed and implemented the “Artful Writing Program” for the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. Designed for students Grade 3 to adult, this program uses visual art works as prompts for creative writing. Working through a series of questions in response to an art work, students are encouraged to build observation skills and practice high-level cognitive skills, such as reasoning, meaning making, and metaphorical thinking. Currently, I teach on an “as needed” basis for gallery-based classes and workshops.

2007-2008: Writing instructor with Bethesda Rehabilitation Hospital, St. Paul, Minnesota
This was a year-long program funded by a local state grant. I designed and taught creative writing assignments for brain injury, stroke, and Alzheimer’s patients in residential and secure wards.

1998-2005: Poetry instructor for adolescents in treatment, Hopkins, Minnesota
Taught evening creative writing sessions in a residential high school for teenagers (13-19 years) recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

2004, Summer: Writing instructor with Making Headway, Eureka, California
Designed and implemented creative writing classes for survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) for Making Headway, a non-profit dedicated to the prevention and treatment of TBI.

2000-2002: Instructor with COMPAS, St Paul, Minnesota
COMPAS is a non-profit arts organization with a roster of teaching artists who are placed in schools around the state of Minnesota for up to two weeks. I taught residencies of various lengths and worked with students in all grade levels.

1997-1998: Head Tutor with the Kidd Tutorial Program, University of Oregon, Eugene
The Kidd Tutorial Program is for undergraduates who show exceptional promise in creative writing. As Head Tutor for the program in its very first year, I helped design and implement the syllabus. I also taught my own section of poetry (six students), oversaw other tutors and sections (for all writing genres) and acted as official liaison between university administration, Kidd tutors, and Kidd Tutorial students.

1995-1997: Creative Writing 243 instructor, University of Oregon, Eugene

1985-1986: English Composition instructor, University of Alaska, Fairbanks 1986-1990, 1992-1995: During these years, I homesteaded on Wrangell Island, in Southeast Alaska.