Erin M. Bertram

Poet

IL
Illinois US

Author's Bio

Erin M. Bertram is the author of It’s Not a Lonely World: A Memoir on the Edge (Trembling Pillow Press, 2022), selected for the Karen Dunning Scholarly/Creative Activity Award by the Women’s & Gender Studies Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Their fifteen chapbooks include Relief Map (2017), winner of the Summer Tide Pool Chapbook Prize, and from The Vanishing of Camille Claudel (II) (2021), winner of The A3 Press Chapbook Prize.  A published finalist in the Diagram Hybrid Essay Contest, their work has been supported by Prague Summer Program for Writers, the Frank O’Hara Chapbook Award series, Augustana College, the Maude Hammond Fling Fellowship Fund, and the Academy of American Poets.  They hold an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in English/Creative Writing from UNL.  A former drummer, they have worked as a writing educator, in both university and community-based settings across the Midwest, for 20 years.  They live near the Fox River in Illinois.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
TransNarratives: Scholarly and Creative Works on Transgender Experience (Women's Press, Canada, 2021)
,
Uprooted: An Anthology on Gender & Illness (Obdurate Oaks Press, 2016)
,
Bared (Les Femmes Folles Books, 2016)
,
Narrative (Dis)Continuities: Prose Experiments by Younger American Writers (Moria Press, 2013)
,
Breathe: 101 Contemporary Odes (C&R Press, 2009)
,
A Sing Economy (Flim Forum Press, 2008)
,
Billet-Doux (Dancing Girl Press, 2008)
,
Best New Poets 2007 (University of Virginia Press, 2007)
,
The Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel--2nd Floor (No Tell Books, 2007)
Chapbooks:
from The Vanishing of Camille Claudel (II) (A3 Press, 2021)
,
Gender/Genre (appearing in Triple No. 13) (Ravenna Press, 2020)
,
Relief Map (C&R Press, 2017)
,
from The Vanishing of Camille Claudel (Seven Kitchens Press, 2016)
,
Where the Wind Bends Backwards (918studio, 2014)
,
Memento Mori (Dancing Girl Press, 2014)
,
Close Your Eyes, Look at Me (Gold Wake Press, 2011)
,
Windfall (Lettre Sauvage, 2010)
,
Inland Sea (Seven Kitchens Press, 2009)
,
The Most Wild, Kindly Green (Achiote Press, 2008)
,
The Urge to Believe Is Stronger than Belief Itself (Cherry Pie Press, 2008)
,
Wise Raven (Big Game Books, 2008)
,
Here, Hunger (w/ Sarah Lilius) (NeO Pepper Press, 2007)
,
Alluvium (Dancing Girl Press, 2007)
,
Body of Water (Thorngate Road, 2007)
Journals:
Admit Two
, ,
Barn Owl Review
,
Bloom
,
Buffalo Carp
,
Clementine Magazine
,
Columbia Poetry Review
, , , , ,
Dear Sir
, ,
Fanzine
,
Forklift, Ohio
,
Foursquare
, , ,
Handsome
,
Hotel Amerika
,
H_NGM_N
,
Knockout
,
Lambda Literary
, ,
LEVELER Poetry Journal
,
LOCUSPOINT
,
MiPOesias
, ,
Parcel
, ,
Sentence
, , , , ,
The Gay and Lesbian Review Worldwide
, ,
Typo Magazine
,
Ugly Accent
,
Wicked Alice
,
Word For/Word
Prizes won: 

The A3 Press Chapbook Prize (2020), Graduate Assistantship at Northern Illinois University (2018-2019), Maude Hammond Fling Fellowship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2017-2018), English Graduate Student Association Award in Teaching Excellence from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2017), Karen Dunning Creative Activity Award from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2017), Digital Scholarship Incubator Fellowship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2017), Published finalist in the Tupelo Quarterly Call & Response Poetry Contest, Preparing Future Faculty Fellowship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2017), Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Prize from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2016), Karen Dunning Creative Activity Award from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2016), National Association for Poetry Therapy Conference Scholarship (2016), Summer Tide Pool Chapbook Prize (2016), Graduate Student Travel Fellowship from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2016), Published finalist in the Talking Writing Hybrid Poetry Contest (2015), Graduate Chancellor's Fellowship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2014), Graduate Teaching Assistantship at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (2014), Published finalist in the Diagram Hybrid Essay Contest (2013), Summer Faculty Research Grant from Augusta College (2013), John Woods Scholarship from Prague Summer Program (2013), Mucke/Roff Scholarship from Split Rock Arts Program (2011), Writing Fellowship at Augustana College (2010), Robin Becker Chapbook Prize (2009), Jr. Writer-in-Residence Fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis (2009), Lettre Sauvage Chapbook Prize (2009), Academy of American Poets Prize from Washington University in St. Louis (2008), Frank O’Hara Chapbook Award (2007), Norma Lowry Memorial Fund Prize from Washington University in St. Louis (2007), Selected for Best New Poets by Natasha Trethewey (2007), Graduate Teaching Fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis (2006)

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
LGBTQ
Prefers to work with: 
Adults, Any, At Risk Youth, Children, Disability, Homelessness, Illness/Wellness, Immigration, Incarcerated individuals, LGBTQ, Men, Mental Health, Naturalists/Environmentalists, Parents, Schools, Seniors, Teachers, Teenagers, Veterans, Women
Fluent in: 
English
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Nov 01, 2021