Deirdre Fagan

Poet, Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Paris, MI
Michigan US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Deirdre Fagan is an award-winning multi-genre author of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and literary criticism. Recently featured on NPR, ABC, and CBS television and radio, as well as in Newsweek and HuffPost, Fagan is a Best of the Net finalist and Pushcart-nominated author of a poetry collection, Phantom Limbs (Finishing Line Press, 2023) and a chapbook of poetry, Have Love (Finishing Line Press, 2019); a Booklist recommended reference book, Critical Companion to Robert Frost (Facts on File, 2007); a Shelf Unbound Indie Notable 100, National Indie Excellence, Living Now (IPPY), and Readers’ Favorite award-winning memoir, Find a Place for Me: Embracing Love and Life in the Face of Death (Regal House Publishing, 2022); and an Eric Hoffer and Next Generation Indie Book award finalist short story collection, The Grief Eater (Adelaide Books, 2020). Described by Kirkus Reviews as a “sharply descriptive writer,” Fagan’s poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and critical essays on poetry, memoir, and pedagogy have appeared widely in literary and scholarly journals and anthologies, popular newspaper and magazines, and encyclopedias. Notably, Fagan’s essay on Emily Dickinson’s “unutterable word” was included in foremost literary critic Harold Bloom’s Modern Critical Views. Fagan is also poetry editor at Orange Blossom Review. Fagan holds a doctorate in Humanistic Studies (English and Philosophy) and a master’s in English from University at Albany, SUNY, and a bachelor’s in English from University at Buffalo, SUNY, and has taught university courses in writing and literature for nearly three decades. She is a native New Yorker who has also lived in Arizona, Florida, Illinois, and Maryland. Fagan currently resides in Michigan where she is a professor, assistant department chair, and coordinator of the creative writing in the English, Literature, and World Languages department at Ferris State University. 

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Anthologies:
Awakenings: Stories of Body and Consciousness (ELJ Publications, 2023)
,
Adelaide Literary Award Anthology (Adelaide Books, 2019)
Book:
Find a Place for Me (Regal House Publishing, 2022)
Journals:
Adelaide Literary Magazine
,
Emerge Literary Journal
,
Huffington Post
, ,
Newsweek
,
Orange Blossom Review
,
The Coil
,
Words Apart

Fiction

Book:
The Grief Eater (Adelaide Books, 2020)
Journals:
Adelaide Literary Magazine
,
Bartleby Snopes
,
Connotation Press: An Online Artifact
,
Down in the Dirt
,
Easy Street
, , ,
Picayune Literary Magazine
,
The Cabinet of Heed

Poetry

Anthologies:
Vita Brevis Anthology (Volume III) (Vita Brevis Press, 2022)
,
As the World Burns (Indie Blu(e) Publishing, 2021)
,
Grey Sparrow 12th Anniversary Anthology (Grey Sparrow Press, 2021)
,
Through the Looking Glass: Reflecting on the Madness and Chaos Within (Indie Blu(e) Publishing, 2020)
,
Persona Non Grata (Fly on the Wall Press, 2018)
,
We Will Not Be Silenced (Indie Blu(e) Publishing, 2018)
Book:
Phantom Limbs (Finishing Line Press, 2023)
Chapbook:
Have Love (Finishing Line Press, 2019)
Journals:
3288 Review
,
Amaryllis
,
Anti-Heroin Chic
, , ,
Bonnie's Crew
, ,
Clementine Unbound
,
Corvus Review
,
Dime Show Review
,
Emerge Literary Journal
, , ,
Halcyon
,
Ink Sweat & Tears
,
Isacoustic
, , , ,
Muddy River Poetry Review
,
Mused BellaOnline Literary Review
, ,
Nibble
,
Nine Muses Poetry
, ,
Picaroon Poetry
,
Poetry Breakfast
, , ,
Red Eft Review
,
Riggwelter
,
The Cabinet of Heed
, ,
Three Drops from a Cauldron
, ,
Trouvaille Review
, ,
Yellow Chair Review
Prizes won: 

17th Annual National Indie Excellence, Readers' Favorite 2023, and 2022 Living Now award winner; Shelf Unbound Indie Notable 100; American Writing Awards and American Book Awards “Best Book” Finalist; & Longlisted for Memoir Magazine’s 2022 Memoir Prize for her memoir Find a Place for Me. Eric Hoffer Award Category Finalist and Next Generation Indie Book Award Finalist 2022 for her collection of short stories, The Grief Eater. Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net 2021 nominations for "Stepping Up," by Rat's Ass Review; Finalist for Best of the Net 2018 for the poem "Outside In," nominated by Nine Muses Poetry; Nominated by Constellate Journal for the 2018 Puschart Prize for the poem "Homesick." Received Honorable Mention in the Muskegon Art Museum's "Art Talks Back" contest (2019).

She was a a merit scholarship resident at Golden Apple Art Residency in Maine (2019) and a resident at the Writers' Colony at Dairy Hollow in Arkansas (2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023).  She was also a poetry workshop participant at Antioch Writers' Workshop (2017) and one of 16 participants in the Donna Kaz Creative Nonfiction Writers' Conference in Southampton, New York (2020).

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
NY
New York
Raised in: 
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Feb 16, 2024