Ellen Doré Watson

Poet

Conway, MA
Massachusetts US

Author's Bio

Ellen Doré Watson’s 5th and most recent book is PRAY ME STAY EAGER (Alice James 2018). Earlier collections include DOGGED HEARTS (Tupelo Press, 2010), THIS SHARPENING, also from Tupelo and, from Alice James, WE LIVE IN BODIES and LADDER MUSIC, winner of the N.E./N.Y. award. Among her honors are a a National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship, Mass. Cultural Council Artists Grant, and a Rona Jaffe Writers Award. Watson has translated a dozen books from the Brazilian Portuguese, including THE ALPHABET IN THE PARK: SELECTED POEMS OF ADELIA PRADO (Wesleyan University Press and another Prado collection, EX-VOTO (Tupelo Press, 2013).  Watson served as Director of the Poetry Center at Smith College for 20 years, followed by 3 years as Smith's Grace Hazard Conkling Visiting Poet. Concurently, she taught at the Drew University Low-Residency MFA program in poetry and translation. Poetry and translation editor of The Massachusetts Review for decades. Now a Contributing Editor at MR, she is core e faculty at the Colrain Manuscript Conference and continues to offer manuscript editing and writing workskhops online.

Writers Retreats: 

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
The Golden Shovel Anthology (University of Arkansas Press, 2017)
,
Lit From Inside: 40 Years of Poetry from Alice James Books (Alice James Books, 2013)
,
She Walks in Beauty: A Woman's Journey through Poems (Hyperion Books, 2011)
,
Morning Song (St. Martin's Press, 2011)
,
AfterShocks (Sante Lucia Books, 2008)
,
Motherhood (Knopf, 2005)
,
Poetry Daily 366 (Sourcebooks, 2003)
,
Ravishing Dis-Unities (Wesleyan University Press, 2000)
,
Outsiders (Milkweed Editions, 1999)
,
Night Out (Milkweed Editions, 1997)
Books:
pray me stay eager (Alice James Books, 2018)
,
The Mystical Rose - poems by Adelia Prado (Bloodaxe Books, 2014)
,
Ex-Voto - Poems by Adelia Prado (Tupelo Press, 2013)
,
Dogged Hearts (Tupelo Press, 2010)
,
This Sharpening (Tupelo Press, 2006)
,
Never Before - Poems about First Experiences (Four Way Books, 2005)
,
Ladder Music (Alice James Books, 2001)
,
Broken Railings (Owl Creek Press, 1997)
,
We Live in Bodies (Alice James Books, 1997)
,
The Alphabet in the Park: Selected Poems of Adelia Prado (Wesleyan University Press, 1994)
Journals: ,
Boulevard
, ,
Field
, , , ,
Many Mountains Moving
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Marlboro Review
, ,
New Yorker
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Prizes won: 

National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award, Alice James NY/NE Award, Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Grant, Fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, and the Vermont Studio Center (Zoland Poetry Award), Green Lake Chapbook Prize, Bullis-Kizer Prize from Poetry Northwest  

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
Fluent in: 
Portuguese
Born in: 
Glen Cove, NY
New York
Raised in: 
Plainview, NY
New York
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Last update: Jul 30, 2024