Colleen Harris

Poet

Laredo, TX
Texas US

Author's Bio

Colleen S. Harris earned her MFA in Writing from Spalding University. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, her poetry collections include The Light Becomes Us (Main Street Rag, forthcoming), Babylon Songs (First Bite Press, forthcoming), These Terrible Sacraments (Bellowing Ark, 2010; Doubleback, 2019), The Kentucky Vein (Punkin House, 2011), God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems (Bellowing Ark, 2009), and chapbooks That Reckless Sound and Some Assembly Required (Pork Belly Press, 2014). She also co-edited Women Versed in Myth: Essays on Modern Women Poets (McFarland, 2016) and Women on Poetry: Writing, Revising, Publishing, and Teaching (McFarland, 2012). Harris grew up on Long Island, and as an academic librarian has made her home in places including Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, California, and Texas. In addition to her MFA, she holds a BA in International Relations and Economics from Centre College, an MS in Library & Information Science from the University of Kentucky, a Master of Public Administration from California State University San Bernardino, an MA and PhD in Mythological Studies from the Pacifica Graduate Institute, and an Ed.D. in Learning & Leadership from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Publications & Prizes

Books:
The Kentucky Vein (Punkin House Press, 2011)
,
These Terrible Sacraments: Poems (Bellowing Ark Press, 2010)
,
God in My Throat: The Lilith Poems (Bellowing Ark Press, 2009)
Chapbooks:
Some Assembly Required (Porkbelly Press, 2014)
,
That Reckless Sound (Porkbelly Press, 2014)
Prizes won: 

2015 Jesse H. Shera Award for Distinguished Published Research (American Library Association)

2013 Semifinalist for Trio House Press Louise Bogan Award with poetry manuscript Rise Fall Rise

2012 Pushcart Prize Nominee in Fiction, “The Patron Saint of Easy Girls” in Grey Sparrow Press

2011 Pushcart Prize Nominee in Poetry, “When You Came Home From the War” in Lamplighter Review

2010 Pushcart Prize Nominee in Poetry, “The Light Becomes Us” in Bellowing Ark

2008 Winner 1st Annual Lois and Marine Robert Award by the Bellowing Ark Society

2008 Finalist, St. Lawrence Book Award Competition with poetry manuscript God in my Throat

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Louise Glück, Nickole Brown, Kim Addonizio, Frank X. Walker, Catherynne M. Valente, Tracy K. Smith, Molly Peacock, Ada Limón, T. S. Eliot, Natasha Trethewey, Agha Shahid Ali.
What I'm reading now: 
Ways to Beg by T. J. Sandella, The Opening Ritual by G. C. Waldrep, The Bread We Eat in Dreams by Catherynne M. Valente, Load In Nine Times by Frank X. Walker, Helen of Troy, 1993: Poems by Maria Zoccola, The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American, Disabled, Feminist, Irish American, White
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
NY
New York
Raised in: 
Brentwood, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 17, 2025