2003 | Doctor of Philosophy, American
Literature
The University of Texas at Austin With concentrations in African American Studies, Women’s
Studies, and Cultural Studies
Developed the graduate concentration in Poetry and Poetics
1998 | Master of Arts, Creative Writing
(Poetry) The University of Texas at Austin
1995 | Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology
and Women’s Studies Duke University
Phi Beta Kappa, Cum Laude
Fall 1993 | Duke in New York Arts
Program
New York University
Fall 2006 | “Def Poetry’s
Public: Spoken Word Poetry and the Racial Politics of Going Mainstream” Iowa Journal of Cultural Studies
Spring 2005 | “Slam Poetry
and the Cultural Politics of Performing Identity” Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association
Spring 2003 | “Authenticating
Voices: Slam Poetry, Politics, and Performances of Black Identity”
Mantis Journal of Poetry and Poetics 3, Stanford University
Spring 2002 | “Representing”
Slam Poetry: Ambivalence, Gender, and Black Authenticity in Slam”
Text, Practice, Performance Journal of Cultural Studies
3.1
2000 | “Group Piece Discussion on the Group Piece”
Co-authored with Mike Henry, Karyna McGlynn, Danny Solis, Genevieve
Van Cleve, Hilary Thomas, Phil West, and Wammo Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Performance Poetry,
Ed. Gary Mex Glazner
San Francisco: Manic D Press
2008 | “The Last Known Confederate
Civil War Widow Writes from the Dead Letter Office of Heaven”
and “Insomnia Chiaroscuro”If These Walls
Could Speak installation, Blanton Museum of Art.
Summer/Fall 2008 | “Half-Life”Gulf Coast
April 2008 | “The Golden Lesson”The Iowa Review
Winter 2007 | “Petites Curie”
and “Object Lesson: Horses”Indiana Review
Fall/Winter 2007 | “Campanology”
and “Oppenheimer’s Lament”
West Branch
Spring 2007 | “Girl, 7, Seeking
U.S. Flight Record, Dies in Crash” and “The Birds”Connecticut Review
Spring 2005 | “Circus Acts: Ring One,” “Circus
Acts: Ring Three,” “The Naming of Eve”The Cream City Review
Spring 2004 | “Heat”iris: a
journal about women
Summer/Fall 2003 | “Cowboys and Indians”The St. Ann’s Review
Fall 2002 | “A Note on the
Type” Spoon River Poetry Review (Finalist,
Editor’s Prize)
Spring 2000 | “Circe with Her
Hair Down,” “Where He Lives Rhymes with Rome,”
“Self-Portrait as Interstate 10”The
Madison Review (Winner of the Phillis Smart Young Prize in
Poetry)
Winter 1997-1998 | “Dedications
for a Birmingham Clinic”Beloit Poetry Journal
Spring/Summer 1998 | “The
Blood Club”Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review
Fall/Winter 1998 | “A Pain, A Fencepost, A Black-and-White
Film”Hayden’s Ferry Review
Fall 1996 | “My Father’s
Absence in Africa,” “The Gift,” “What
the Doctors Forget to Tell You About Morphine,” “In
Memory of a Girl”Spoon River Poetry Review
Broadcasts and Podcasts
2009 | Word
of Mouth, New Hampshire Public Radio (December 9,
10 min).
2009 | “Just
a Girl,” BBC Radio 4 Americana (November 22,
6 min).
2008 | “The Last Known Confederate
Civil War Widow Writes from the Dead Letter Office of Heaven”
and “Insomnia Chiaroscuro,”
If These Walls Could Speak installation, Blanton Museum of
Art.
2010 | Gracie Award for “In
Verse: Women of Troy,” Outstanding Soft News Feature,
Alliance for Women in Media (formerly American Women in Radio
and Television).
2010 | 3rd Place, The Pinch
Literary Award in Poetry for “Sugar: A Blues.”
2009 | 2nd Place, The Missouri Review
Audio Award for “ Women of Troy.”
2008 | Finalist, Rona Jaffe Foundation
Writer's Award
2006 | Emily Clark Balch Prize for
Poetry, Virginia Quarterly Review
2006 | Helen C. Smith Award for Best
Book of Poetry Finalist, Texas Institute of Letters
2006 | Pushcart Prize nomination,
Southern Illinois University Press
2005 | Crab Orchard Award Series
in Poetry Open Competition, second place winner for Roam
(book publication and $1500)
2005 | Robert Frost Foundation Poetry
Award
2004 | Ann Stanford Poetry Prize,
Southern California Anthology
2000 | Phillis Smart Young Prize
in PoetryThe Madison Review (University of
Wisconsin at Madison)
1995 | Louis Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Arts,
Duke University ($5,000 prize given to one graduate annually)
1994| Academy of American Poets
Award, Duke University
Residencies
June 2007 | Hedgebrook
July 2005 | Millay Colony for the
Arts, Martha Martin Fellow
November 2004 | I-Park Artist’s
Enclave
Summer 2004 | Alden B. Dow Center
for Creativity, Northwood University
Summer 1994 | Bucknell Seminar for
Younger Poets, Stadler Center for Poetry
Grants, Fellowships, and Teaching
Awards
2009 | City of Austin Artist Opportunity
Grant
2006-2007 | Center for the Arts in
Society Visiting Scholar Fellowship, Carnegie Mellon
University
2004-2006 | Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral
Fellowship, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2002-2003 | American Dissertation
Fellowship, American Association of University Women
(one of fifty-one $20,000 fellowships awarded nationwide)
2002-2003 | Keene Fellowship for
Exceptional Contributions in Creative Writing, The University
of Texas at Austin
2001-2002 | J.M. Coetzee Distinguished
Alumnus Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin
2000-2001 | Nomination, Teaching
Excellence Award, The University of Texas at Austin
2005-2006 | Nomination, Outstanding
Teacher Award, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign