Lindsey Martin-Bowen

Poet, Fiction Writer

Author's Bio

On Halloween 2023, Redbat books released Lindsey's CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison, her seventh poetry collection. Her sixth (poetry collection), The BOOK of FRENZIES (Pierian Springs Press) was released in paperback on June 22, 2022, and on December 10, 2022, it appeared in hardback (Pierian Springs Press 2022). Her fourth, Where Water Meets the Rock (39 West Press 2017) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and a poem in the book reaped an Honorable Mention in Writer’s Digest’s 85th Contest. Her third, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison (in chapbook form), was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 contest and won the Kansas Writers Assoociation's (KWA) 2017 “Looks Like a Million” award. Inside Virgil's Garage (Chatter House Press 2013), her second full-length collection, was a runner-up in the 2015 Nelson Book Award (KWA) and contains a poem nominated for a Pushcart Prize. McClatchy Newspapers/Kansas City Star named her first full-length poetry collection, Standing on the Edge of the World (Washburn U/Woodly Press 2008) one of the Top Ten Poetry Collectons for 2008. That book was also nominated for a Pen Award. Her poems have appeared in many lit zines, including New Letters, I-70 Review, Thorny Locust, Flint Hills Review, Coal City Review, Ekphrastic Review (Egyptian Challenge), Phantom Drift, and Rockhurst Review.

She holds an MA and Juris Doctor and teaches creative writing classes for Art Center East in La Grande, Oregon. For five and a half years, she taught Criminal Justice classes (online) at Blue Mountain Community College (Pendleton, Oregon). (To be near children and grandchildren, she followed William Stafford’s spirit to Oregon.) Until then, she taught creative writing/literature/cultural studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, MCC—Longview and Penn Valley, Rockhurst University, and Johnson County CC. Poetry is her way of singing.

A Kansas native, she has also taught Classical Literature and writing at Rockhurst University, served as a full-time newspaper reporter for The Johnson County SUN and the Louisville Times, as Associate Editor for Modern Jeweler Magazine and as Editor of The National Paralegal Reporter. Her published novels include CICADA GROVE (Paladin Contemporaries 1992), HAMBURGER HAVEN (2009) and RAPTURE REDUX (2014). She holds an Master's degree in English/creative writing and a Juris Doctor. She read often at The Writers Place, at Riverfront Readings and various bookstores, and for The Thomas Zvi Wilson Reading Program in the Johnson County Central Resource Library. With poet Carl Rhoden, she helped organize the Second Sunday Reading series at Borders in Overland Park, Kansas (1991-2001).

Publications & Prizes

Fiction

Books:
Rapture Redux (Paladin Contemporaries, 2014)
,
Hamburger Haven (Paladin Contemporaries, 2009)
,
Cicada Grove (Paladin Contemporaries, 1992)
Journal:
Thorny Locust

Poetry

Anthologies:
PROMPTS (39 West Press, 2017)
,
GIMME YOUR LUNCH MONEY: Heartland Poets Speak out against Bullies (Paladin Contemporaries, 2016)
,
Thorny Locust Special Selections Anthology 20 Years (Thorny Locust, 2015)
,
The Whirlybird Anthology of Kansas City Poets (Whirlybird Press, 2012)
,
To the Stars through Difficulties A Kansas Renga in 150 Voices (Mammoth Publications, 2012)
,
Show + Tell (Potpourri Press, 2000)
,
DOWN PEACEFUL PATHS (Quill Books, 1988)
,
Kansas City Outloud (as Carole Nicholson) (BkMk Press-UMKC, 1974)
Books:
The BOOK of FRENZIES (hardback) (Pierian Springs Press, 2022)
,
The BOOK of FRENZIES (paperback) (Pierian Springs Press, 2022)
,
Where Water Meets the Rock (39 West Press, 2017)
,
CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison (Paladin Contemporaries, 2016)
,
Inside Virgil's Garage (Chatter House Press, 2013)
,
Standing on the Edge of the World (Woodley Press, 2008)
,
SECOND TOUCH (Paladin Contemporaries, 1990)
Journals:
Bare Root Review
,
Black Bear Review
,
Coal City Review
,
Flint Hills Review
, ,
Kansas City Star
, ,
Lip Service
,
Little Balkans Review
, ,
Porter Gulch Review
,
River King Poetry Supplement
,
Rockhurst Review
,
The Same
,
Thorny Locust
Prizes won: 

Her fourth poetry collection, WHERE WATER MEETS THE ROCK (39 WEST PRESS 2017) was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. A poem in that collection, Where Water Meets the Rock (39 West Press 2017) reaped an Honorable Mention in Writer’s Digest’s 85th Contest. Her third, CROSSING KANSAS with Jim Morrison (in chapbook form), was a finalist in the QuillsEdge Press 2015-2016 contest and won the KAC 2017 “Looks Like a Million.”

"Bonsai Tree Gone Awry" from INSIDE VIRGIL'S GARAGE (Chatter House Press 2013) was a 2013 Pushcart Prize nominee. This collection was also a runner-up in the 2015 Kansas Authors Club Thomas Nelson Poetry Prize. The KANSAS CITY STAR/McClatchy Newspapers named her first collection, STANDING ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (Woodley Press) one of the Top Ten Poetry Books of 2008. The collection was also nominated for a PEN USA award. Her novella and poetry won the 1987 Grand Prize Barbara Storck Creative Writing Contest (Cicada Grove and poetry). Other poetry and fiction won the 1986 Grand Prize Barbara Storck Creative Writing Contest (a short story and poetry), and one of her poems took Third Place  in the 2003 Shorelines Poetry Contest.

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Poetry: Galway Kinnell, W.S. Merwin. Louise Gluck, Mary Ruefle, Mark Strand, Andrew Hudgins, Mary Oliver, T.S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams, Czeslav Milosz, Kim Adonezzio, Tara Skurtu, Pablo Neruda, Michelle Boisseau, Fiction: Anne Tyler, Kurt Vonnegut, James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, C.S. Lewis
What I'm reading now: 
ULYSSES (re-reading) by James Joyce, JIGSAW PUZZLING by Denise Low, DUBLINERS (re-reading stories) by James Joyce, SELECTED POEMS by Czeslav Milosz, ECSTATIC IN THE POISON by Andrew Hudgins, A CAT FOR ALL SEASONS by Rose Marie Kinder, SELECTED POEMS by W.S. Merwin, TILL WE HAVE FACES by C.S. Lewis, THE ANXIETY OF INFLUENCE by Harold Bloom, THE SHADOW Of SIRIUS by W.S. Merwin, THE LION COMMUNIQUE by Jim Cherry

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Christian, English American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults, Teachers
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Kansas City, KS
Kansas
Raised in: 
Kansas City, MO
Missouri
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Sep 25, 2024