Phill Provance

The author of A Plan in Case of Morning (Vine Leaves Press 2020), A Brief History of Woodbridge, New Jersey (The History Press 2019), and Post Cards of McHenry County, Illinois (Arcadia 2021), Phill Provance formerly served as Executive Editor at MediaTier Ltd. and is Editor at Large for Poets at Work and honorary Associate Editor for Danse Macabre online literary journal, as well as author of the comic strip "The Adventures of Ace Hoyle" (MediaTier Ltd. 2008-2010). His journalism, poetry and prose have appeared in or are forthcoming from The Baltimore Sun, InQuest Gamer magazine, Wizard World Online, The Crab Creek Review, Third Wednesday, Orbis, Word Riot, decomP, and many others. In 2017 alone, his poem "The Stenographers Union" was selected by Diane Seuss as one of two finalists for the Crab Creek Review Prize, his "Of Beauty & Things" was selected by Bill Brown as one of three Honorable Mention finalists for the Ron Rash Award, his "Hours," "My Old Man" and "Given the Day" were awarded the Sheila-na-gig Quarterly Prize, his "Why the Coyote Doesn't Just Order Chinese" placed in the Shadow Award, and his "Triangle" was shortlisted for the Fortnight Prize. More recently, his "Triangle" was selected by Maurice Manning as a Finalist for the 2018 Ron Rash Award, and his "Gen Y Love Poem" was selected as a Finalist by Arisa White for the 2018 Jane Underwood Prize. His first poetry chapbook, "The Day the Sun Rolled Out of the Sky," was published by Cy Gist Press in December 2010 and received three Pushcart nominations and one nomination each for the Best of the Web and Best of the Net for its contents from the magazines in which these poems previously appeared, and several of his poems have also been translated into Vietnamese by Vietnamese New Formalist Khe Iem. He is also a regular presenter at academic conferences on the topics of Appalachian Literature and Formalism, and his critical essay "Warring with Whitmania: 'Second Wave New Formalism' as a Theoretically and Practically Coherent Curative to Free Verse Absolutism" was anthologized in The Poetic Legacy of Whitman, Williams, and Ginsberg (PCCC 2018). He previously studied English literature at Oxford University and Bethany College and journalism at NYU and holds an MFA in Poetry and Fiction from WV Wesleyan College. A native Appalachian born and raised in Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, he now lives near Chicago, Illinois, and, when not writing, enjoys spending time with his son, Ledger.