Kelly Fordon

Poet, Fiction Writer

Detroit, MI
Michigan US
Twitter/X: 

Author's Bio

Kelly Fordon’s latest short story collection, I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020), was chosen as a Midwest Book Award Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. Her 2016 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind (WSUP), was a Michigan Notable Book, an INDIEFAB Finalist, a Midwest Book Award Finalist, an Eric Hoffer Finalist, and an IPPY Awards Bronze Medalist. Her first full-length poetry collection, Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019), was an Eyelands International Prize Finalist and an Eric Hoffer Finalist. It was later adapted into a play by Robin Martin and published in The Kenyon Review Online. She is the author of three award-winning poetry chapbooks and has received a Best of the Net Award and Pushcart Prize nominations in three different genres. She teaches at Springfed Arts in Detroit and online, where she runs a fiction podcast called “Let’s Deconstruct a Story.” http://www.kellyfordon.com

Publications & Prizes

Fiction

Books:
I Have the Answer (Wayne State University Press, 2020)
,
Garden for the Blind (Wayne State University Press, 2015)

Poetry

Book:
Goodbye Toothless House (Kattywompus Press, 2019)
Chapbooks:
The Witness (Kattywompus Press, 2016)
,
Tell Me When it Starts to Hurt (Kattywompus Press, 2013)
,
On the Street Where We Live (Standing Rock Cultural Arts, 2012)
Prizes won: 

2023 James Jones First Novel Fellowship Contest, semi-finalist.
2023 Hudson Prize, Black Lawrence Press, Semi-finalist for Mother + Church.
2022 Best of the Net nomination, “Hands,” Sepia Journal. 
2021 Midwest Book Award Finalist, I Have the Answer.
2021 Eric Hoffer Finalist in the Short Story Category, I Have the Answer.
2020 Eyelands Literary Awards, Finalist in Poetry, Goodbye Toothless House.
2020 Best of the Net nomination, “Riding out the Pandemic,” Museum of Americana. 
2020 Pushcart nomination, “Astraphobia,” River Teeth.
2020 Disquiet Literary International Prize Long List for “Astraphobia.” 
2020 Saturday Evening Post, finalist Great American Fiction Contest. 
2019 Eric Hoffer Finalist in Poetry, Goodbye Toothless House.
2018 Pushcart Nomination, “This is Not a Poem,” One Jacar Press.
2018 ScreenCraft Cinematic Short Story Contest, quarterfinalist, “The Devil’s Proof.”
2016 Pushcart nomination, “At the Cosmetics Counter,” Gingko Tree Review.
2016 Eric Hoffer Winner in the Chapbook Category and Finalist for the Grand Prize, The Witness, Kattywompus Press. 
2016 Eric Hoffer Finalist, Garden for the Blind, Wayne State University Press. 
2016 Midwest Book Award Finalist, Garden for the Blind, Wayne State University Press.
2015 Michigan Notable Book, Garden for the Blind, Wayne State University Press.
2015 Forewords’ Review Indiefab Finalist, Short Story Category, Garden for the Blind.
2015, Pushcart nomination, Wayne State University Press, “Opportunity Cost.”
2014, Wigleaf Top 50, Best of the Web, “A Small Bridge.”
2014, Shortlisted, ArtSlant, Georgia Fee Residency.
2014, Winner, Redivider, 2014 AWP Poetry Quickie Contest
2014, Shortlisted, Fish Publishing International Short Story Contest.
2014, Finalist, 2014 Carolina Wren Press Poetry Series.
2012, Finalist, Tuscany Prize, novel category.

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More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Washington, DC
District Of Columbia
Raised in: 
Washington, DC
District Of Columbia
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jan 24, 2024