Sandra Beasley
Encyclopedia
Sandra Beasley is an American poet and non-fiction writer.
, earned a B.A. in English magna cum laude from the University of Virginia
, and later received an MFA
degree from American University
. For several years she worked as an editor at The American Scholar
before leaving the position to write full-time.
Beasley is the author of the poetry collections Theories of Falling (New Issues, 2008) and I Was the Jukebox, (W.W. Norton, 2010), as well as the memoir Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life (Crown
, 2011), which is also as a cultural history of food allergies. Her poetry has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry 2010, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and Best New Poets 2005, as well as such journals as Poetry, The Believer, AGNI online, Blackbird, Barrelhouse, Copper Nickel, Gulf Coast, and Black Warrior Review. She was a regular contributor to the "XX Files" column for the Washington Post Magazine and more recently her prose has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Psychology Today. She has received fellowships to the University of Mississippi (as the Summer Poet in Residence), the Sewanee Writers' Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellowship), and Virginia Center for Creative Arts (two Cafritz Fellowships), among others honors. She serves on the Board for the Writer's Center and is also a member of the Arts Club of Washington.
Background
Beasley graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and TechnologyThomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology is a Virginia state-chartered magnet school located within Fairfax County, Virginia, United States...
, earned a B.A. in English magna cum laude from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, and later received an MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
degree from American University
American University
American University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
. For several years she worked as an editor at The American Scholar
The American Scholar (magazine)
The American Scholar is the literary quarterly of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, founded in 1932. The magazine has won fourteen National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors from 1999 to present, including awards for General Excellence...
before leaving the position to write full-time.
Beasley is the author of the poetry collections Theories of Falling (New Issues, 2008) and I Was the Jukebox, (W.W. Norton, 2010), as well as the memoir Don't Kill the Birthday Girl: Tales from an Allergic Life (Crown
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, 2011), which is also as a cultural history of food allergies. Her poetry has been anthologized in The Best American Poetry 2010, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and Best New Poets 2005, as well as such journals as Poetry, The Believer, AGNI online, Blackbird, Barrelhouse, Copper Nickel, Gulf Coast, and Black Warrior Review. She was a regular contributor to the "XX Files" column for the Washington Post Magazine and more recently her prose has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Psychology Today. She has received fellowships to the University of Mississippi (as the Summer Poet in Residence), the Sewanee Writers' Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellowship), and Virginia Center for Creative Arts (two Cafritz Fellowships), among others honors. She serves on the Board for the Writer's Center and is also a member of the Arts Club of Washington.
Honors and awards
- 2010 Summer Poet in Residence fellowship at the University of MississippiUniversity of MississippiThe University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
- 2010 LegalArt Residence
- 2010 Artist Fellowship from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities
- 2009 Friends of Poetry Prize from the Poetry FoundationPoetry FoundationThe Poetry Foundation is a Chicago-based American foundation created to promote poetry in the wider culture. It was formed from Poetry magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist Ruth Lilly....
- 2009 Cafritz Fellowship to Virginia Center for Creative ArtsVirginia Center for the Creative ArtsThe Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is an artists’ community in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of two weeks to two months for international artists, writers, and composers at its working retreat in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains...
- 2009 Barnard Women Poets PrizeBarnard Women Poets PrizeThe Barnard Women Poets Prize is a major American literary award for a book of poetry in the English language.From 1986-1999 the prize was called the Barnard New Women Poets Prize...
, selected by Joy HarjoJoy HarjoJoy Harjo is a Native American poet, musician, and author of ancestry. Known primarily as a poet, Harjo has also taught at the college level, played alto saxophone with a band called Poetic Justice, edited literary journals, and written screenplays. She is a member of the Muscogee Nation and... - 2008 Walter E. Dakin Fellowship to the Sewanee Writers' Conference
- 2008 Maureen Egen Exchange Award from Poets & WritersPoets & WritersPoets & Writers, Inc. is one of the largest nonprofit literary organization in the United States serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers...
- 2007 New Issues Poetry PrizeNew Issues PressNew Issues Press is a literary press associated with Western Michigan University. It was founded by poet and Western Michigan University professor Herbert S. Scott...
, selected by Marie Howe - 2006 Elinor Benedict Poetry Prize from Passages North at Northern Michigan University
- 2005 Cafritz Fellowship to Virginia Center for Creative ArtsVirginia Center for the Creative ArtsThe Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is an artists’ community in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of two weeks to two months for international artists, writers, and composers at its working retreat in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains...
Translated works
- Die Abtastnadel in der Rille eines traurigen Lieds. Selected poems. Bilingual edition (German, English). Berlin: Hochroth Press, 2011. pp. 28. ISBN: 978-3942161-13-8
External links
- Author's website
- Author's "Chicks Dig Poetry" blog
- Interview: "Q&A: Sandra Beasley says allergies can bring out insensitivity in others" The Globe & Mail July 19, 2011
- Interview: "Sandra Beasley: On Food Allergies, Rituals, and Inclusion"> Her Circle > Shana Thornton, July 12, 2011
- Interview: "Jake Adam York Interviews Sandra Beasley" Southern Spaces September 22, 2011.
- Poems: The Plays of Lilliput; The Mangrove House; The Parade, Delaware Poetry Review
- Poems: The Angels; My Los Alamos; Fireproof, Coconut 8