Marianne Taylor English Department
348 13th Ave SW Kirkwood Community College
Mt Vernon, IA 52314 6301 Kirkwood Blvd SW
281.757.3843 Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
[email protected] 800.332.2055 ext. 5838
319.398.5899 ext. 5838
[email protected]
Professional Experience
Professor, Department of English
Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids IA 1993-Present
• Regularly teach: Creative Writing (Poetry, Short Fiction, Multigenre and Advanced Creative Writing) and Literature (Poetry, Drama, Fiction, American Dreams, World Poetry and Special Topics); Composition (Developmental through Advanced); also work in Writing Center
• Pioneered Internet teaching by developing 3 courses for WebCT platform delivery; continue to teach them (18 years later), now on Angel; update as new technologies emerge, and share materials with peers
• Mentor new English faculty members
• Regularly supervise Honors Projects in literature and creative writing and serve as Faculty Advisor to liberal arts students
• Redesigned Literature & Cultures: American Dreams as a “diversity course” and developed new “diversity course,” Literature & Cultures: World Poetry
• Routinely initiate, organize and perform in faculty readings of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and annually collaborate with University of Iowa’s International Writer’s Workshop on readings with visiting international writers
• Served as Faculty Advisor to Cedar Valley Divide, literary arts magazine; routinely judged the Community College Humanities Association’s annual Literary Magazine competition
• Serve on Advisory Board for Kirkwood Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (KCELT); also served on KCELT task force for Learning Communities and subcommittee for faculty load and compensation
• Selected for Fulbright Group Grants to Morocco and Cuba; and worked on Fulbright Grant Application to Russia; studied Russian language
• Selected for National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Workshop Along the Shore: The Landmarks of Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront”
• Routinely present work at local and national conferences, particularly Associated Writing Programs (AWP) and Community College Humanities Association (CCHA)
• Participant in “Place Studies,” “Millenials,” and two “Technology” Reading Circles as well as Kirkwood’s Formation in the Community College movement
• Co-creator and leader of the first Creative Writing Circle for faculty and staff
• Facilitator at Kirkwood Futures Initiative Conference and member of Humanities and Arts Core Committee
• Other significant committee work: Screening Committee for Faculty Hiring (multiple years); Curriculum & Instruction; Technology; Literary Awards; Exemption; e-portfolios
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Fullerton College, Fullerton CA 1989-1993
• Courses taught: Creative Writing; Literature; Composition; Developmental Writing
• Faculty Advisor to Portico, literary arts magazine
• Faculty Advisor to liberal arts students
• Significant committee work: Curriculum & Instruction; Student Retention Program; Basic Skills Curriculum; Writing Center Committee; Faculty Selection Committee; Proficiency Exam
Teaching Associate, Department of English
University of California, Irvine CA 1984-1989
Education
University of California, Irvine CA
M.A. English, December 1985
(all coursework for Ph.D. completed, emphasis in poetry & drama)
Bucknell University, Lewisburg PA
B.A. Economics/English 1978
Awards & Honors
• Honorable Mention 2013 Paterson Literary Review for “My Friend’s Father”
• Recipient of the Kirkwood Endowed Teaching Chair 2010-2011
• Nominated for The Kirkwood Difference Award, January 2010
• Paper entitled, “Writing a Collaborative One-Act Through Character Development” selected for publication in The Best of the AWP Pedagogy Papers 2010
• Editor’s Choice Award 2007, Paterson Literary Review for “Omens” and “Cruisin’”
• The Kirkwood Difference Award 2007, Kirkwood Community College
• Finalist, 2006 John Ciardi Prize for Poetry
• 2nd Place Prize, 2006 Helen A. Quade Memorial Writer’s Award for “Salt Water, Iowa” and “Beside Us”
• Honorable Mention 2006, Paterson Literary Review for “Anna’s Blessing”
• Finalist, 2005 Richard Snyder Memorial Poetry Prize, Ashland Poetry Press
• Semi-finalist, 2005 “Discovery”/The Nation Award
• First Prize, 2004 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award for “Aspen Place Projects”
• Finalist, 2004 Arts & Letters Poetry Award
• Semi-finalist, 2004 Winnow Press Open Book Award in Poetry
• Honorable Mention 1995, Iowa Woman Anniversary Contest for “The Significant Other”
• Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2006, 2005 and 2001
Academic Presentations
• “Reading the Psalms as Poetry,” presented at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 2013
• “Faces of Those In Need: Portraits in Poetry,” presented at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2013
• “Three Criteria in the Creative Writing Poetry Workshop,” Community College Humanities Association Conference, Iowa City, IA, November 2012
• “Narrowing the Focus in the Online Poetry Workshop,” presented at AWP national conference, Chicago, IL, March 2012
• “Learner Success in the Online English Class,” co-presenter at Collaborative Learning Days, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 2011
• “Human Voices: Expressing the Spiritual in Poetry,” presented at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 2011
• “Telling Nellie,” chapbook reading and presentation, Faculty Endowed Chair Reception, Kirkwood Community College, April 2011
• “Writing a Collaborative One-Act Through Character Development,” Pedagogy Paper presented at AWP national conference, Denver, CO, April 2010
• “Teaching College English” interactive presentation, Mount Vernon Middle School Career Days, Mount Vernon, IA, April 2009
• “Writing Ekphrastic Poems in Beginning Workshops” Pedagogy Paper presented at Associated Writing Programs national conference, Chicago, IL, February 2008
• “Literary Magazine Workshop” presented at CCHA Regional Conference, Omaha, NE, November 2008
• “A Blog Runs Through It” presented at CCHA National Conference, San Antonio, TX, October 2007
• “Creative Writing: Poems & Stories” Six workshops presented in Mount Vernon School District, Mount Vernon, IA, April 2007
• “The Landscape of Home: Place and Community in Fiction Class,” presented at the CCHA regional conference, Chicago, IL, November 2006
• “Dare I Teach a Course in 20th Century & Contemporary World Poetry?” presented at the Community College Humanities Association national meeting, Boston, MA, November 2005
• Discussion of Poetry in Wartime film and anthology, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA and Kirkwood Community College, September 2004
• Young Women Writing Poetry, Guest speaker, Iowa Humanities Grant Program, Mount Vernon, IA, March 2003
• “Teaching Creative Writing on the Internet,” Iowa Community College Roundtable, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2003
• Discussion leader for Dead Man Walking, First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Vernon, IA March 2002
Recent Poetry Publications
“A Ghost Story” and “Lucy’s Last Words,” Aquila Review, forthcoming
“The city council meeting…,” Wapsipinicon Almanac 2014
“The New Place” and “Midlife Arrhythmias,” Shifts, MuseWrite Press, 2014
“What the Divers Saw,” Hartskill Review, Spring 2014
“Thorns,” Conclave: A Journal of Character, Autumn 2013
“My Friend’s Father,” Paterson Literary Review, Spring 2013
“Listening to NPR During the Iraqi Invasion,” Hot Summer Nights, Inner Child Press
2012
“Rites of Spring,” Nimrod International Journal, Spring 2011
“Visit,” The American Voice in Poetry: The Legacy of Whitman, Williams and Ginsberg,
The Poetry Center 2010
“We Are She, or Preface” and “Still Life With Onions,” Not A Muse: A World Poetry
Anthology, Haven Books 2009
“A Wreath,” Poetry of Place: North Jersey in Poetry, The Poetry Center 2008
“About Those Lilies,” Alehouse 2008
“A Game of Chance,” Slipstream 2007
“World War III,” Edison Literary Review Fall 2007
“Lament in a Country Graveyard,” Relief Spring 2007
“Anna’s Blessing,” Fall 2006, “Omens,” and “Cruisin,’” Fall 2007, Paterson
Literary Review
“Easter Duty,” Connecticut Review Fall 2006
“Illumination,” Ginosko Summer 2006
“Mid-day at the Museum, Eastern Art Gallery,” Passages: Timeless Voyages of Spirit,
Chrysalis Books 2006
“Beside Us” and “Salt Water, Iowa,” Reflections June 2006
“Christmas Gift from John,” Nimrod International Journal Spring 2006
“Detritus,” Tigertail Spring 2006
“The Accident,” PoemMemoirStory Spring 2006
“Rearview Mirror” and “E-mail from My Ex,” Family Matters: Poems of Our Families,
Bottom Dog Press 2005
“Waiting for Snow,” Mid-America Poetry Review Winter 2005-2006
“New Black Pumps,” Rosebud, August 2005
“Aspen Place Projects” and “Why I Am Glad I Have No Daughters” Paterson
Literary Review, Spring 2005
“Facing the Enemy” selected for inclusion on voicesinwartime.org, 2005
“Study in Green,” Mid-America Poetry Review Winter 2004-2005
“The Ice Caps Are Melting,” Chiron Review Winter 2004-2005
“Jack Would Take Me Driving” and “My Mother’s Life,” Paterson LiteraryReview,
Fall 2004
“Packages From Home,” Alaska Quarterly Review Spring 2003
“Facing the Enemy,” selected for Beyond 9-11: The Art of Survival in Iowa, Iowa
Humanities Award recipient, http://www.beyond9-11.org
“Facing the Enemy,” Infinite Respect, Enduring Dignity: Voices and Visions on the
September Attacks, University of Iowa, January 2002
“A Game of Chance,” North American Review, September/October 2001
“St. Jude’s Boulevard,” The Macguffin, Special Issue 2000
“The Significant Other,” Iowa Woman, Summer 1995 (Winner, 15th Anniversary Contest)
Poetry Readings and Dramatic Works
• A Paul Engle Birthday Celebration Reading, CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA, October 2013
• Listen To Your Mother reading/performance at CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA, May 2013
• Voicebox Poetry Slam, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, February 2013
• The American Voice in Poetry reading, The Poetry Center, Paterson, NJ, April 2010
• Director and Co-writer, “Three Stiffs and a Stiff” for Slices of Life, Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, March 2010
• Hearts’ Aftermath: A Faculty and Student Reading, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, February 2010
• Words & Music for a Winter Evening, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, annual reading held every January 2002-2009
• Poetry of Place: North Jersey in Poetry reading, The Poetry Center, Paterson, NJ, May 2008
• “A Ghost Story: Janusz Visits Magda” one-act play performed by Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, March 2007
• Reading for World Hunger, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA, December 2004
• Allen Ginsberg Awards Poetry Reading, The Poetry Center, Paterson, NJ, November 2004
• Having Our Say: Readings for Peace and Social Justice, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, April 2004
• “‘A Blast of Wild Lilac’: Thoughts on Poetry and a Reading,” Ingleside and Entre Nous Reading Clubs’ Annual Dinner, Mt. Vernon, IA, September 2003
• Lysistrata, a staged reading, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2003
• American Spirit Day, State Historical Museum, Des Moines, IA, September 2002
• A Remembrance Concert, Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, September 2002
• In and Out of Place, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA Nov. 2001
Recent Advanced Workshop Courses Taken at the Online School of Poetry, Cambridge, MA
“Gwendolynn Brooks,” Spring 2014
“William Butler Yeats,” Spring 2013
“Elizabeth Bishop,” Spring 2012
“Pablo Neruda,” Spring 2010
“Emily Dickinson,” Fall 2008
“Writing Poems on Music and Musicians,” Summer 2008
“Ekphrastic Poetry,” Spring 2008
“Creating the Dramatic Monologue,” Winter 2008
“Poetry and Memory,” Summer 2007
Significant Community Service
Member, Mount Vernon City Council, Mount Vernon, IA 2012-present
President, Cole Library Board of Trustees, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA 2002-03;
member 1999-2005 and 2014-present
Member, “First Fifty,” Mount Vernon Community School District, 2014-2015
Member, Community Focus Group to hire new School District Superintendent, Mount
Vernon, IA, May-June 2013 and December 2001-February 2002
Fine Arts Representative to Facilities Planning Committee of Mount Vernon School District,
Mount Vernon, IA, 2010- present
Judge, Zero Bone Poetry Contest, Spring 2015
Judge, Optimist’s Society Speech Competition, Cedar Rapids, IA 2012-14
Judge, Iowa High School Speech Association, various locations, 2010-present
Secretary, Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre Board of Directors, Mount Vernon,
IA, 2008-2011
At-Large Member, Mount Vernon Fine Arts Association, Mount Vernon, IA, 2008-present
Member, Mount Vernon School District’s Foreign Language Learning Committee, 2009
Chair, Mount Vernon School Improvement Advisory Committee, Mount Vernon, IA
2004-06; member 1999-2009
Member, Mount Vernon School District’s Safe & Respectful Learning Environment
Committee, 2004
Member, Mount Vernon Community Preschool Board of Directors, Mount Vernon, IA
1999-2003
Member, PRIDE and WETAP, parent organizations at elementary and middle schools,
Mount Vernon, IA, 1996-present
Judge, Gazette poetry contest, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2004
Reviewer, U.S. Dept. of Education, FIPSE Comprehensive Program proposals, 2003
Community representative to Cornell College’s national accreditation review, 2002
Member, Associated Writing Programs
Member, Community College Humanities Association
348 13th Ave SW Kirkwood Community College
Mt Vernon, IA 52314 6301 Kirkwood Blvd SW
281.757.3843 Cedar Rapids, IA 52404
[email protected] 800.332.2055 ext. 5838
319.398.5899 ext. 5838
[email protected]
Professional Experience
Professor, Department of English
Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids IA 1993-Present
• Regularly teach: Creative Writing (Poetry, Short Fiction, Multigenre and Advanced Creative Writing) and Literature (Poetry, Drama, Fiction, American Dreams, World Poetry and Special Topics); Composition (Developmental through Advanced); also work in Writing Center
• Pioneered Internet teaching by developing 3 courses for WebCT platform delivery; continue to teach them (18 years later), now on Angel; update as new technologies emerge, and share materials with peers
• Mentor new English faculty members
• Regularly supervise Honors Projects in literature and creative writing and serve as Faculty Advisor to liberal arts students
• Redesigned Literature & Cultures: American Dreams as a “diversity course” and developed new “diversity course,” Literature & Cultures: World Poetry
• Routinely initiate, organize and perform in faculty readings of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and annually collaborate with University of Iowa’s International Writer’s Workshop on readings with visiting international writers
• Served as Faculty Advisor to Cedar Valley Divide, literary arts magazine; routinely judged the Community College Humanities Association’s annual Literary Magazine competition
• Serve on Advisory Board for Kirkwood Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (KCELT); also served on KCELT task force for Learning Communities and subcommittee for faculty load and compensation
• Selected for Fulbright Group Grants to Morocco and Cuba; and worked on Fulbright Grant Application to Russia; studied Russian language
• Selected for National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Workshop Along the Shore: The Landmarks of Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront”
• Routinely present work at local and national conferences, particularly Associated Writing Programs (AWP) and Community College Humanities Association (CCHA)
• Participant in “Place Studies,” “Millenials,” and two “Technology” Reading Circles as well as Kirkwood’s Formation in the Community College movement
• Co-creator and leader of the first Creative Writing Circle for faculty and staff
• Facilitator at Kirkwood Futures Initiative Conference and member of Humanities and Arts Core Committee
• Other significant committee work: Screening Committee for Faculty Hiring (multiple years); Curriculum & Instruction; Technology; Literary Awards; Exemption; e-portfolios
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Fullerton College, Fullerton CA 1989-1993
• Courses taught: Creative Writing; Literature; Composition; Developmental Writing
• Faculty Advisor to Portico, literary arts magazine
• Faculty Advisor to liberal arts students
• Significant committee work: Curriculum & Instruction; Student Retention Program; Basic Skills Curriculum; Writing Center Committee; Faculty Selection Committee; Proficiency Exam
Teaching Associate, Department of English
University of California, Irvine CA 1984-1989
Education
University of California, Irvine CA
M.A. English, December 1985
(all coursework for Ph.D. completed, emphasis in poetry & drama)
Bucknell University, Lewisburg PA
B.A. Economics/English 1978
Awards & Honors
• Honorable Mention 2013 Paterson Literary Review for “My Friend’s Father”
• Recipient of the Kirkwood Endowed Teaching Chair 2010-2011
• Nominated for The Kirkwood Difference Award, January 2010
• Paper entitled, “Writing a Collaborative One-Act Through Character Development” selected for publication in The Best of the AWP Pedagogy Papers 2010
• Editor’s Choice Award 2007, Paterson Literary Review for “Omens” and “Cruisin’”
• The Kirkwood Difference Award 2007, Kirkwood Community College
• Finalist, 2006 John Ciardi Prize for Poetry
• 2nd Place Prize, 2006 Helen A. Quade Memorial Writer’s Award for “Salt Water, Iowa” and “Beside Us”
• Honorable Mention 2006, Paterson Literary Review for “Anna’s Blessing”
• Finalist, 2005 Richard Snyder Memorial Poetry Prize, Ashland Poetry Press
• Semi-finalist, 2005 “Discovery”/The Nation Award
• First Prize, 2004 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award for “Aspen Place Projects”
• Finalist, 2004 Arts & Letters Poetry Award
• Semi-finalist, 2004 Winnow Press Open Book Award in Poetry
• Honorable Mention 1995, Iowa Woman Anniversary Contest for “The Significant Other”
• Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2006, 2005 and 2001
Academic Presentations
• “Reading the Psalms as Poetry,” presented at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 2013
• “Faces of Those In Need: Portraits in Poetry,” presented at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2013
• “Three Criteria in the Creative Writing Poetry Workshop,” Community College Humanities Association Conference, Iowa City, IA, November 2012
• “Narrowing the Focus in the Online Poetry Workshop,” presented at AWP national conference, Chicago, IL, March 2012
• “Learner Success in the Online English Class,” co-presenter at Collaborative Learning Days, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 2011
• “Human Voices: Expressing the Spiritual in Poetry,” presented at First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 2011
• “Telling Nellie,” chapbook reading and presentation, Faculty Endowed Chair Reception, Kirkwood Community College, April 2011
• “Writing a Collaborative One-Act Through Character Development,” Pedagogy Paper presented at AWP national conference, Denver, CO, April 2010
• “Teaching College English” interactive presentation, Mount Vernon Middle School Career Days, Mount Vernon, IA, April 2009
• “Writing Ekphrastic Poems in Beginning Workshops” Pedagogy Paper presented at Associated Writing Programs national conference, Chicago, IL, February 2008
• “Literary Magazine Workshop” presented at CCHA Regional Conference, Omaha, NE, November 2008
• “A Blog Runs Through It” presented at CCHA National Conference, San Antonio, TX, October 2007
• “Creative Writing: Poems & Stories” Six workshops presented in Mount Vernon School District, Mount Vernon, IA, April 2007
• “The Landscape of Home: Place and Community in Fiction Class,” presented at the CCHA regional conference, Chicago, IL, November 2006
• “Dare I Teach a Course in 20th Century & Contemporary World Poetry?” presented at the Community College Humanities Association national meeting, Boston, MA, November 2005
• Discussion of Poetry in Wartime film and anthology, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA and Kirkwood Community College, September 2004
• Young Women Writing Poetry, Guest speaker, Iowa Humanities Grant Program, Mount Vernon, IA, March 2003
• “Teaching Creative Writing on the Internet,” Iowa Community College Roundtable, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2003
• Discussion leader for Dead Man Walking, First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Vernon, IA March 2002
Recent Poetry Publications
“A Ghost Story” and “Lucy’s Last Words,” Aquila Review, forthcoming
“The city council meeting…,” Wapsipinicon Almanac 2014
“The New Place” and “Midlife Arrhythmias,” Shifts, MuseWrite Press, 2014
“What the Divers Saw,” Hartskill Review, Spring 2014
“Thorns,” Conclave: A Journal of Character, Autumn 2013
“My Friend’s Father,” Paterson Literary Review, Spring 2013
“Listening to NPR During the Iraqi Invasion,” Hot Summer Nights, Inner Child Press
2012
“Rites of Spring,” Nimrod International Journal, Spring 2011
“Visit,” The American Voice in Poetry: The Legacy of Whitman, Williams and Ginsberg,
The Poetry Center 2010
“We Are She, or Preface” and “Still Life With Onions,” Not A Muse: A World Poetry
Anthology, Haven Books 2009
“A Wreath,” Poetry of Place: North Jersey in Poetry, The Poetry Center 2008
“About Those Lilies,” Alehouse 2008
“A Game of Chance,” Slipstream 2007
“World War III,” Edison Literary Review Fall 2007
“Lament in a Country Graveyard,” Relief Spring 2007
“Anna’s Blessing,” Fall 2006, “Omens,” and “Cruisin,’” Fall 2007, Paterson
Literary Review
“Easter Duty,” Connecticut Review Fall 2006
“Illumination,” Ginosko Summer 2006
“Mid-day at the Museum, Eastern Art Gallery,” Passages: Timeless Voyages of Spirit,
Chrysalis Books 2006
“Beside Us” and “Salt Water, Iowa,” Reflections June 2006
“Christmas Gift from John,” Nimrod International Journal Spring 2006
“Detritus,” Tigertail Spring 2006
“The Accident,” PoemMemoirStory Spring 2006
“Rearview Mirror” and “E-mail from My Ex,” Family Matters: Poems of Our Families,
Bottom Dog Press 2005
“Waiting for Snow,” Mid-America Poetry Review Winter 2005-2006
“New Black Pumps,” Rosebud, August 2005
“Aspen Place Projects” and “Why I Am Glad I Have No Daughters” Paterson
Literary Review, Spring 2005
“Facing the Enemy” selected for inclusion on voicesinwartime.org, 2005
“Study in Green,” Mid-America Poetry Review Winter 2004-2005
“The Ice Caps Are Melting,” Chiron Review Winter 2004-2005
“Jack Would Take Me Driving” and “My Mother’s Life,” Paterson LiteraryReview,
Fall 2004
“Packages From Home,” Alaska Quarterly Review Spring 2003
“Facing the Enemy,” selected for Beyond 9-11: The Art of Survival in Iowa, Iowa
Humanities Award recipient, http://www.beyond9-11.org
“Facing the Enemy,” Infinite Respect, Enduring Dignity: Voices and Visions on the
September Attacks, University of Iowa, January 2002
“A Game of Chance,” North American Review, September/October 2001
“St. Jude’s Boulevard,” The Macguffin, Special Issue 2000
“The Significant Other,” Iowa Woman, Summer 1995 (Winner, 15th Anniversary Contest)
Poetry Readings and Dramatic Works
• A Paul Engle Birthday Celebration Reading, CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA, October 2013
• Listen To Your Mother reading/performance at CSPS, Cedar Rapids, IA, May 2013
• Voicebox Poetry Slam, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, February 2013
• The American Voice in Poetry reading, The Poetry Center, Paterson, NJ, April 2010
• Director and Co-writer, “Three Stiffs and a Stiff” for Slices of Life, Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, March 2010
• Hearts’ Aftermath: A Faculty and Student Reading, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA, February 2010
• Words & Music for a Winter Evening, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, annual reading held every January 2002-2009
• Poetry of Place: North Jersey in Poetry reading, The Poetry Center, Paterson, NJ, May 2008
• “A Ghost Story: Janusz Visits Magda” one-act play performed by Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, March 2007
• Reading for World Hunger, Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA, December 2004
• Allen Ginsberg Awards Poetry Reading, The Poetry Center, Paterson, NJ, November 2004
• Having Our Say: Readings for Peace and Social Justice, Heritage Hall, Lisbon, IA, April 2004
• “‘A Blast of Wild Lilac’: Thoughts on Poetry and a Reading,” Ingleside and Entre Nous Reading Clubs’ Annual Dinner, Mt. Vernon, IA, September 2003
• Lysistrata, a staged reading, Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2003
• American Spirit Day, State Historical Museum, Des Moines, IA, September 2002
• A Remembrance Concert, Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, September 2002
• In and Out of Place, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA Nov. 2001
Recent Advanced Workshop Courses Taken at the Online School of Poetry, Cambridge, MA
“Gwendolynn Brooks,” Spring 2014
“William Butler Yeats,” Spring 2013
“Elizabeth Bishop,” Spring 2012
“Pablo Neruda,” Spring 2010
“Emily Dickinson,” Fall 2008
“Writing Poems on Music and Musicians,” Summer 2008
“Ekphrastic Poetry,” Spring 2008
“Creating the Dramatic Monologue,” Winter 2008
“Poetry and Memory,” Summer 2007
Significant Community Service
Member, Mount Vernon City Council, Mount Vernon, IA 2012-present
President, Cole Library Board of Trustees, Cornell College, Mount Vernon, IA 2002-03;
member 1999-2005 and 2014-present
Member, “First Fifty,” Mount Vernon Community School District, 2014-2015
Member, Community Focus Group to hire new School District Superintendent, Mount
Vernon, IA, May-June 2013 and December 2001-February 2002
Fine Arts Representative to Facilities Planning Committee of Mount Vernon School District,
Mount Vernon, IA, 2010- present
Judge, Zero Bone Poetry Contest, Spring 2015
Judge, Optimist’s Society Speech Competition, Cedar Rapids, IA 2012-14
Judge, Iowa High School Speech Association, various locations, 2010-present
Secretary, Mount Vernon Lisbon Community Theatre Board of Directors, Mount Vernon,
IA, 2008-2011
At-Large Member, Mount Vernon Fine Arts Association, Mount Vernon, IA, 2008-present
Member, Mount Vernon School District’s Foreign Language Learning Committee, 2009
Chair, Mount Vernon School Improvement Advisory Committee, Mount Vernon, IA
2004-06; member 1999-2009
Member, Mount Vernon School District’s Safe & Respectful Learning Environment
Committee, 2004
Member, Mount Vernon Community Preschool Board of Directors, Mount Vernon, IA
1999-2003
Member, PRIDE and WETAP, parent organizations at elementary and middle schools,
Mount Vernon, IA, 1996-present
Judge, Gazette poetry contest, Cedar Rapids, IA, March 2004
Reviewer, U.S. Dept. of Education, FIPSE Comprehensive Program proposals, 2003
Community representative to Cornell College’s national accreditation review, 2002
Member, Associated Writing Programs
Member, Community College Humanities Association
