Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Poet

Hawthorne, NJ
New Jersey US

Author's Bio

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is a recipient of the 2014 George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature from AWP, the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers, and the 2008 American Book Award for her book, "All That Lies Between Us" (Guernica Editions). She is the founder/executive director of the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, NJ, and editor of the "Paterson Literary Review." She is also director of the Binghamton Center for Writers and the creative writing program, and professor of English at Binghamton University-SUNY. She has published 21 books, including "What Blooms in Winter" (NYQ Books, 2016);"The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets" (Cat in the Sun Books, 2014); "Ancestors’ Song" (Bordighera Press, 2013); "The Silence in an Empty House" (NYQ Books, 2013); "Writing Poetry to Save Your Life: How to Find the Courage to Tell Your Stories" (MiroLand, Guernica Editions, 2013); "The Place I Call Home" (NYQ Books, 2012); and "What We Pass On: Collected Poems 1980-2009" (Guernica Editions, 2010). With her daughter Jennifer, she is co-editor of four anthologies. Visit her website at www.mariagillan.com.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Italian American Writers on New Jersey (Rutgers University Press, 2006)
,
Growing Up Ethnic in America (Penguin/Putnam, 1999)
,
Identity Lessons (Penguin/Putnam, 1999)
,
Unsettling America (Viking, 1994)
Books:
Ancestors’ Song (Bordighera Press, 2013)
,
The Silence in an Empty House (NYQ Books, 2013)
,
Writing Poetry to Save Your Life: How to Find the Courage to Tell Your Stories (Guernica Editions, 2013)
,
The Place I Call Home (NYQ Books, 2012)
,
What We Pass On:Collected Poems 1980-2009 (Guernica Editions, 2010)
,
All That Lies Between Us (Guernica Editions, 2007)
,
Italian Women in Black Dresses (Guernica Editions, 2002)
,
Things My Mother Told Me (Guernica Editions, 1999)
,
Where I Come From (Guernica Editions, 1995)
,
The Weather of Old Seasons (Cross-Cultural Communications, 1987)
Journals: ,
Connecticut Review
,
Feminist Studies
,
Louisiana Review
, ,
New Myths
,
Prizes won: 

2014 George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature from AWP.
Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers from Poets & Writers, 2011.
American Book Award, "All That Lies Between Us," 2008.
For "What We Pass On," Ten Best Books of 2010, Montserrat Review.
Named Connecticut Touring Poet in 2009.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Italian American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Paterson
Raised in: 
Paterson, NJ
New Jersey
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Oct 19, 2016