Lia Purpura
Encyclopedia
Lia Purpura is an American poet
, writer and educator. She is the author of three collections of poems (King Baby, Stone Sky Lifting, The Brighter the Veil), two collections of essays (On Looking and Increase) and one collection of translations (Poems of Grzegorz Musial: Berliner Tagebuch and Taste of Ash). Her poems and essays appear in AGNI Review, Antioch Review, DoubleTake, FIELD, The Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, Orion Magazine, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review , Ploughshares. Southern Review, and many other magazines.
and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
where she was a Teaching/Writing Fellow in Poetry, Lia Purpura is currently Writer-in-Residence at Loyola College in Baltimore
, Maryland. She is also on the faculty of the Rainier Writing Workshop Low-Residency MFA Program in Tacoma, Washington
. Recent visiting appointments include the Bedell Visiting Writer at the University of Iowa
's MFA Program in Nonfiction; Coal Royalty Visiting Professor at the University of Alabama
's MFA Program; Reader/Lecturer at the Bennington Writing Program, and Visiting Writer at the Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity at Eastman School of Music
. She lives in Baltimore with her husband, conductor Jed Gaylin
, and their son.
, 2008) won the Beatrice Hawley Award and was a finalist for the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award and the Maine Literary Award.
On Looking (essays, Sarabande Books, 2006) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
and the winner of the Towson University
Prize in Literature.
Increase (essays, University of Georgia Press, 2000) won the Associated Writing Programs Award in Creative Nonfiction.
Stone Sky Lifting (poems, Ohio State University Press, 2000) won the OSU Press/The Journal Award.
The Brighter the Veil (poems, Orchises Press, 1996) won the Towson University Prize in Literature.
Her recent essays "Glaciology" and "The Lustres" were awarded Pushcart Prize
s in 2007 and 2009, and other essays were named "Notable Essays" in Best American Essays, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Lia Purpura is also the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts
Fellowship, a Fulbright Award
Fellowship (translation, Warsaw, Poland), and a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
She was named 2004 Writer-in-Residence at Thurber House
in Columbus, Ohio
.
Purpura has been awarded a Millay Colony Fellowship, multiple fellowship residencies at the MacDowell Colony
, and at Blue Mountain Center. She is the winner of the Visions International Prize in Translation, and the Randall Jarrell Prize for poetry given by the North Carolina Writers’ Network and chosen by Mary Oliver.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, writer and educator. She is the author of three collections of poems (King Baby, Stone Sky Lifting, The Brighter the Veil), two collections of essays (On Looking and Increase) and one collection of translations (Poems of Grzegorz Musial: Berliner Tagebuch and Taste of Ash). Her poems and essays appear in AGNI Review, Antioch Review, DoubleTake, FIELD, The Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, Orion Magazine, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review , Ploughshares. Southern Review, and many other magazines.
Life
A graduate of Oberlin CollegeOberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
and the Iowa Writers' Workshop
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, is a highly regarded graduate-level creative writing program in the United States...
where she was a Teaching/Writing Fellow in Poetry, Lia Purpura is currently Writer-in-Residence at Loyola College in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland. She is also on the faculty of the Rainier Writing Workshop Low-Residency MFA Program in Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma, Washington
Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...
. Recent visiting appointments include the Bedell Visiting Writer at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
's MFA Program in Nonfiction; Coal Royalty Visiting Professor at the University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
's MFA Program; Reader/Lecturer at the Bennington Writing Program, and Visiting Writer at the Warren and Patricia Benson Forum on Creativity at Eastman School of Music
Eastman School of Music
The Eastman School of Music is a music conservatory located in Rochester, New York. The Eastman School is a professional school within the University of Rochester...
. She lives in Baltimore with her husband, conductor Jed Gaylin
Jed Gaylin
Jed Gaylin was born to Ned and Rita Gaylin on August 13, 1963 in Chicago, Illinois. He moved to Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1968, and grew up there. He enrolled at Oberlin College studying piano with Lydia Frumkin as well as physics, graduating as an elected member of Pi Kappa Lambda as pianist ...
, and their son.
Awards
King Baby (poems, Alice James BooksAlice James Books
Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.- History and mission :...
, 2008) won the Beatrice Hawley Award and was a finalist for the Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award and the Maine Literary Award.
On Looking (essays, Sarabande Books, 2006) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
and the winner of the Towson University
Towson University
Towson University, often referred to as TU or simply Towson for short, is a public university located in Towson in Baltimore County, Maryland, U.S...
Prize in Literature.
Increase (essays, University of Georgia Press, 2000) won the Associated Writing Programs Award in Creative Nonfiction.
Stone Sky Lifting (poems, Ohio State University Press, 2000) won the OSU Press/The Journal Award.
The Brighter the Veil (poems, Orchises Press, 1996) won the Towson University Prize in Literature.
Her recent essays "Glaciology" and "The Lustres" were awarded Pushcart Prize
Pushcart Prize
The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
s in 2007 and 2009, and other essays were named "Notable Essays" in Best American Essays, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Lia Purpura is also the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Fellowship, a Fulbright Award
Fulbright Award
The Fulbright Award is a scholarship awarded as part of the Fulbright Program to foster international research and collaboration. The program also awards a fellowship to Ph.D.'s to lecture and teach in foreign universities...
Fellowship (translation, Warsaw, Poland), and a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
She was named 2004 Writer-in-Residence at Thurber House
Thurber House
Thurber House is a literary center for readers and writers located in Columbus, Ohio, in the historic former home of author, humorist, and New Yorker cartoonist James Thurber...
in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
.
Purpura has been awarded a Millay Colony Fellowship, multiple fellowship residencies at 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...
, and at Blue Mountain Center. She is the winner of the Visions International Prize in Translation, and the Randall Jarrell Prize for poetry given by the North Carolina Writers’ Network and chosen by Mary Oliver.
Published works
- King Baby (Poems) (Alice James Books, 2008)
- On Looking (Essays) (Sarabande Books, 2006)
- Increase (Essays) (University of Georgia Press, 2000)
- Stone Sky Lifting (Poems) (Ohio State University Press, 2000)
- The Brighter the Veil (Poems) (Orchises Press, 1996)
- Poems of Grzegorz Musial: Berliner Tagebuch and Taste of Ash (Translation) (Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1998)
Awards and honors
- 20092009 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 5 – The Turkish government announces it will posthumously restore the citizenship it had stripped from influential poet Nazim Hikmet, a Marxist who died in 1963 as an exile in the Soviet...
: Towson University Prize in Literature - 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
: Beatrice Hawley Award - 20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
: NEA Literature Fellowship in Prose - 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
: Associated Writing Programs Award in Creative Nonfiction - 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
: Ohio State University Press/The Journal Award