Cleopatra Mathis
Encyclopedia
Cleopatra Mathis is an American
poet who since 1982 has been the Frederick Sessions Beebe Professor in the English
department at Dartmouth College
, where she is also director of the Creative Writing
Program. Her most recent book is White Sea (Sarabande Books
, 2005).
Her first five books of poems were published by Sheep Meadow Press, and are distributed by University Press of New England
. Her fifth book (What to Tip the Boatman?) won the Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Book of Poems in 2001. Prizes and honors for her work include two National Endowment for the Arts grants, in 1984 and 2003; the Peter Lavin Award for Younger Poets from the Academy of American Poets; two Pushcart Prizes, 1980 and 2006; a poetry residency at The Frost Place
in 1982; a 1981-82 Fellowship in Poetry at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and fellowship residencies at Yaddo
and the MacDowell Colony
; The May Sarton Award; and Individual Artist Fellowships in Poetry from both the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the New Jersey State Arts Council.
Cleopatra Mathis' work has appeared widely in magazines and journals, including The New Yorker
, Poetry, The American Poetry Review, Tri-Quarterly, The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, AGNI, and in textbooks and anthologies including The Made Thing: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern Poetry (University of Arkansas Press, 1999), The Extraordinary Tide: Poetry by American Women (Columbia University Press, 2001), and The Practice of Poetry (HarperCollins, 1991).
Born in Ruston, Mathis was raised by her Greek mother’s family, including her grandfather, who spoke no English, and her grandmother, who ran the family café. Her father left when she was six years old. Mathis received her bachelor’s degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1970, and spent seven years teaching public high school. It was during this time that Mathis became interested in poetry, and she went on to earn her M.F.A. from Columbia University, graduating in 1978.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet who since 1982 has been the Frederick Sessions Beebe Professor in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
department at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, where she is also director of the Creative Writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
Program. Her most recent book is White Sea (Sarabande Books
Sarabande Books
Sarabande Books is an American not-for-profit literary press founded in 1994, and located in Louisville, Kentucky, publishing poetry, fiction and nonfiction.The press was co-founded by Sarah Gorham and Jeffrey Skinner...
, 2005).
Her first five books of poems were published by Sheep Meadow Press, and are distributed by University Press of New England
University Press of New England
The University Press of New England , located in Lebanon, New Hampshire and founded in 1970, is a university press consortium including Brandeis University, Dartmouth College , the University of New Hampshire, and Northeastern University...
. Her fifth book (What to Tip the Boatman?) won the Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Book of Poems in 2001. Prizes and honors for her work include two National Endowment for the Arts grants, in 1984 and 2003; the Peter Lavin Award for Younger Poets from the Academy of American Poets; two Pushcart Prizes, 1980 and 2006; a poetry residency at The Frost Place
The Frost Place
The Frost Place is a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home in Franconia, New Hampshire, USA....
in 1982; a 1981-82 Fellowship in Poetry at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and fellowship residencies at Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
and the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
; The May Sarton Award; and Individual Artist Fellowships in Poetry from both the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the New Jersey State Arts Council.
Cleopatra Mathis' work has appeared widely in magazines and journals, including The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Poetry, The American Poetry Review, Tri-Quarterly, The Southern Review, The Georgia Review, AGNI, and in textbooks and anthologies including The Made Thing: An Anthology of Contemporary Southern Poetry (University of Arkansas Press, 1999), The Extraordinary Tide: Poetry by American Women (Columbia University Press, 2001), and The Practice of Poetry (HarperCollins, 1991).
Born in Ruston, Mathis was raised by her Greek mother’s family, including her grandfather, who spoke no English, and her grandmother, who ran the family café. Her father left when she was six years old. Mathis received her bachelor’s degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1970, and spent seven years teaching public high school. It was during this time that Mathis became interested in poetry, and she went on to earn her M.F.A. from Columbia University, graduating in 1978.
Published works
- White Sea (Sarabande BooksSarabande BooksSarabande Books is an American not-for-profit literary press founded in 1994, and located in Louisville, Kentucky, publishing poetry, fiction and nonfiction.The press was co-founded by Sarah Gorham and Jeffrey Skinner...
, 2005) - What to Tip the Boatman? (Sheep Meadow Press, 2001)
- Guardian (Sheep Meadow Press, 1995)
- The Center for Cold Weather (Sheep Meadow Press, 1989)
- The Bottom Land (Sheep Meadow Press, 1983)
- Aerial View of Louisiana (Sheep Meadow Press, 1979)