Lisa Fay Coutley

PDF (Updated 2023)

 

Ph.D.	Literature & Creative Writing: Poetry, University of Utah, 2014 Awarded a Vice-Presidential Fellowship & an Academy of American Poets Levis Prize
M.F.A.	Poetry, Northern Michigan University, 2010 Awarded a Future Faculty Fellowship & the Outstanding Graduating MFA Graduate Student Award
M.A.	Creative Nonfiction, Northern Michigan University, 2007
B.A.	English & Humanistic Studies, Magna Cum Laude, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 2004

 

HONORS & AWARDS

Faculty Development Fellowship, University of Nebraska at Omaha: Fall 2022
Gulf Coast Poetry Prize, selected by Natalie Diaz, Gulf Coast Literary Journal, Houston, TX: 2021
Outstanding Recent Alumni Award, University of Wisconsin Green Bay, Green Bay, WI: 2018
Sewanee Writers’ Conference Walter E. Dakin Fellowship, University of the South, TN: Summer 2017
Society of Midland Author’s Best Book of 2015 Award (Errata, finalist), Chicago, IL: 2016
Foreword Reviews’ 2015 Book of the Year Award (Errata, Finalist), Traverse City, MI: 2015
Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Award (Errata), Southern IL Univ. Press, IL: 2014
NEA Literature Fellowship (Poetry), National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, D.C.: 2013
Academy of American Poets Levis Prize, chosen by Dana Levin, Univ. of Utah: SLC, UT: Fall 2012
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Rona Jaffe Scholarship, Middlebury College, VT: Summer 2012
Sewanee Writers’ Conference Tennessee Williams Scholarship, U of the South, TN: Summer 2011
Vice-Presidential Fellowship, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT: 2010-2012
Sewanee Writers’ Conference MFA Scholarship, University of the South, Sewanee, TN: Summer 2009
Future Faculty Fellowship: A King Chavez Parks Initiative, NMU/State of Michigan: 2008-2009
Excellence in Education Summer Research Grant, NMU: Summers 2008 & 2009

PUBLICATIONS

Full-Length Poetry Collections

HOST. University of Wisconsin Press, forthcoming 2024. Runner-up: Wisconsin Poetry Series, selected by Sean Bishop and Jesse Lee Kercheval.
tether. Black Lawrence Press, 2020.
Errata. Southern Illinois University Press, 2015. Winner of the 2014 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Open Competition Award, selected by Adrienne Su.

Chapbooks: Poetry & Creative Nonfiction

Small Girl: Micromemoirs. Small Harbor Publishing, forthcoming 2024. Selected from Harbor Editions 2022 Hybrid Chapbook Open Reading Period.
In the Carnival of Breathing. Black Lawrence Press, 2011. Winner of the Black River Chapbook Competition
Back-Talk. Articles Press, Spring 2010. Winner of the ROOMS Chapbook Contest

Anthology: Poetry, Prose, & Critical Introduction (sole editor)

In the Tempered Dark: Contemporary Poets Transcending Elegy, Black Lawrence Press, forthcoming 2024. (grief poems + accompanying micro essays from poets, emerging to Pulitzer prize winning, with editor’s critical introduction: 325 pages.)

Anthologized Poems & Essays (selected)

A Body of Athletics (ed. Natalie Diaz) University of Nebraska Press: “Why to Run Racks”
And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing (ed. Ron Riekki), MSU Press: “Researchers Find…”
Thirty Days: Best of Tupelo Press’ 30/30 (ed. Marie Gauthier), Tupelo Press: “Never & One-Thousand Years”
Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (ed. Ron Riekki), MSU Press: “Errata” & “My Lake”
Double Kiss: Writers on the Art of Billiards (ed. Sean Thomas Dougherty), Mammoth: “Why to Run Racks”
The Way North (ed. Ron Riekki), Wayne State University Press: “Post-Storm”
Best of the Net Anthology 2013 (ed. A.E. Stallings), Sundress Publications: “Careo”
Best of Kore Press 2012: Poetry (ed. Ann Dernier), Kore Press: “Barefoot on the Pulpit”
Best New Poets 2010 (guest ed. Claudia Emerson), Samovar Press: “My Lake”
Verse Daily (eds. Hunter Hamilton & Campbell Russo): “To The Astronaut: On Impact” (August 11, 2016); “Careo” (March 3, 2016); “To Sleep” (Sept 8, 2011); “Barefoot on the Pulpit” (July 7, 2011 & named a Verse Daily Favorite); “View from the High Road” (Nov 6, 2010)

Selected Poems (see Poems & Prose for updated publications)

AGNI, “Shelter: Michigan” (forthcoming), Fall 2018
Narrative, “Dear John—,” “Duplex,” & “The Letter I Never Send” Winter 2019
Pleiades, “Dear Mom—” (forthcoming), Winter 2019
Bennington Review, “Of Course” & “How” (forthcoming) Winter 2019
Blackbird, “Lease Training” (forthcoming), Spring 2019
The Los Angeles Review, “Wind Turbine Erection: A Time Lapse Video,” Summer 2018
Glass, “Astronaut: On Forget” & “Late Praise for the Heart,” Spring 2018
32 Poems, “Total Solar Eclipse (A Prediction),” Fall 2017
storySouth, “To Be Honest,” Spring 2017
Minnesota State University 2017 Poetry Video Project, “Ode to Post-Partum” (video feature), Spring 2017
Crab Orchard Review,“Back-Talk II” & “Astronaut at the Window,” Summer 2017
adroit, “To Astronaut: On Fall,” Spring 2017
storySouth, “To Be Honest,” Spring 2017
Crab Orchard Review, “Astronaut at the Window” & “Back-Talk II,” Summer 2017
The Adroit Journal, “To Astronaut: On Fall” (forthcoming), Spring 2017
Cicada, “To Astronaut: On Impact,” Winter 2017 
VINYL Poetry, “June: Tinea,” Spring 2016
San Pedro River Review, “Rural Utah: I” & “Dear DirecTV Hook-Up Guy,” Winter 2016
Sugar House Review, “The Dream Talks,” “Astronaut Sees Upheaval Dome,” & “To Astronaut: On Impact,” Fall 2015 *Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Kenyon Review, “Researchers Find…” & “Delayed Communiqué to Astronaut,” Spring 2015
Dialogist, “Love in the Language of Aviation,” “What Have You,” & “Blue Sky Thinking,” Winter 2015 *Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Tupelo Quarterly, “Fourteen Lines,” “The Letter,” “Sensory Deprivation,” & “iPod Shuffle,” Spring 2014
Connotations, “The Way the Plot,” “Relinquere,” & “Self Portrait as Facts of Energy,” Spring 2014
Crazyhorse, “Cloud Experiment,” Spring 2014
Gulf Coast, “50 Degrees,” Spring 2014
Sou’wester, “When He Comes at Me,” Spring 2013
Iron Horse, “Family Portrait as the Language of Disaster” & “Small Break in Cirrocumulus,” Spring 2013
Ecotone, “Astronaut & Poet” & “Poet Sees a Partial Eclipse, Astronaut Feels Hail,” Spring 2013
Drunken Boat, “Ode to Post-Partum” & “Ode to Pain,” Spring 2013 *Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Cream City Review, “Driving Up-Canyon…” & “Self-Portrait as Pyrocumulonimbus,” Winter 2012
Ninth Letter, “Careo,” Fall 2012 *Selected for Best of the Net 2013
The Journal, “Conflating the Wrecks,” Summer 2012
American Literary Review, “Shooting Geese,” Spring 2012
Third Coast, “Patientia,” Spring 2012
Barn Owl Review, “For My First Dog,” Spring 2012
Seneca Review, “Recent Studies Show Underdeveloped Hippocampus…” & “Dear Morpheus,” Fall 2011
American Poetry Journal, “Ode to the Apple” and “My Desert,” Fall 2011
Hayden’s Ferry Review, “Barefoot on the Pulpit,” Summer 2011
RHINO, “Listen,” Spring 2011
Poet Lore, “Ode to the Bottle,” Spring 2011
Cave Wall, “My Lake”* & “View from the High Road,” Summer/Fall 2010 *Selected for Best New Poets 2010
DMQ Review, “Coffee,” Summer 2010 *Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Juked, “The Lapidary Speaks,” Spring 2010 *Nominated for Best of the Net 2010
Fugue, “Woman from Water,” Winter 2010
Hollins Critic, “On Home,” Winter 2010
Sewanee Theological Review, “Guy & Realdoll,” Fall 2009
Pebble Lake Review, “What He’ll Say if You Ask,” Fall 2009
Blackbird, “Why to Bury a Parrot” & “During the Final Scene,” Fall 2009
32 Poems, “Respiration,” Fall 2009
Linebreak, “Errata,” Summer 2009
Boxcar Poetry Review, “Elegy for a Skinwalker,” Summer 2009
The Pedestal Magazine, “Posing for Aunt Sandy,” Winter 2008
The Brooklyn Review, “Back-Talk,” Spring 2008
Terminus, “Small Girl on a Green Floor with Jacks,” Summer 2004
Main Street Rag, “Midnight Baseball” & “Planetary Articulation,” Spring 2004

Selected Prose (Creative & Critical)

Passages North: “Foreclosures” (forthcoming), Winter 2019
The Cincinnati Review(miCRo feature): “Honeycomb,” Spring 2018
32 Poems—Contributor’s Marginalia: “The Structure of Grief,” Winter 2018
Double Kiss: Writers on the Art of Billiards, “Why to Run Racks” (forthcoming), Spring 2016
Birmingham Poetry Review, “Enacting Models, Copies, & Simulacra: Terese Svoboda’s When the Next Big War Blows Down the Valley,” Spring 2016
Prairie Schooner, “Why to Run Racks,” Winter 2015
Ocean State Review, “As the Water Recedes,” Spring 2015  *Nominated for a Pushcart Prize
Poets & Writers, “The Private Dwelling: On Keeping (and Destroying) Journals,” Sept/Oct 2014
Passages North: Writers on Writing, “Why to Kill Your Paradise,” Fall 2013
Litbridge, “Patientia: PhD Reflecting,” Summer 2013
Sapling, “Chapbooks Have Feelings Too,” Winter 2011

TEACHING  EXPERIENCE

University of Nebraska Omaha Writer’s Workshop, Omaha, NE: August 2016 – Present

o Associate Professor of Poetry & Creative Nonfiction

Form & Theory—Epic Poetry & Spoken Word: Ancient Recitation to Rap Battle
Form & Theory—Structures of Grief
Creative Nonfiction Writing Studio
Literary Magazine: Editing & Publishing Practicum
Poetry Writing Studio
Creative Nonfiction Studio
Fundamentals of Poetry
Autobiographical Reading and Writing
Creative Writing for the Arts
BFA Thesis Instruction (poetry & CNF)

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR: December 2015 – June 2016

o Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing—Poetry

MFA Poetry Workshop 
Intermediate Creative Writing 
Advanced Creative Writing 

Snow College, Ephraim, UT: Aug 2014 – December 2015

o  Assistant Professor of English—Poetry

Creative Writing: Poetry
Introduction to Poetry (Poetry & Other)
Composition I—Expository Writing
Composition II—Intermediate Research Writing

University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT: Aug 2012 – May 2013

• University Writing Program Instructor / English Teaching Fellow

Introduction to Creative Writing
Intermediate Research Writing

Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI: Aug 2005 – July 2010

• Graduate Teaching Assistant

Composition I & II
Introduction to Creative Writing
Narrative & Descriptive Writing (Creative Nonfiction)
Technical & Report Writing

Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, Green Bay, WI: Spring 2005

o  Communications Instructor

Communicating Effectively

EDITORIAL  EXPERIENCE

Black Lawrence Press

• Chapbook Series Editor, Summer 2022 – Present

Beall Poetry Festival—Baylor University

• Guest Judge, Spring 2018

Academy of American Poets Award—University of Massachusetts Boston

• Guest Judge, Spring 2017

Breakwater Review– University of Massachusetts Boston

• Guest Editor, Spring 2017

Trinity Valley School Thalia’s Annual Daniel Graves Poetry Contest

• Guest Judge, Spring 2017

Black Lawrence Press

• Manuscript Consultant: 2015 (poems), 2016 (full poetry books), Spring 2017 (poetry chapbooks) & Fall 2017 (full-length manuscripts, chapbooks, poetry packets, & individual poems)
• Contest Judge/Poetry Editor, Black River Chapbook Competition: 2012—2022

Linebreak: an online journal of original poetry: 2011 – 2015

• Assistant Poetry Editor

Breakthrough Novel Award, Amazon: Spring 2014

• Assistant Editor

Quarterly West, University of Utah: 2011 – 2013

• Poetry Editor

Western Humanities Review, University of Utah: 2011 – 2013

• Assistant Editor

Passages North, Northern Michigan University: 2008 – 2010

• Associate Poetry Editor

Department of Technology and Occupational Sciences, NMU: 2007 – 2010

• Web Editor / Copywriter

Sheepshead Review, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay: 2002 – 2004

• Poetry Editor

SELECTED READINGS & PRESENTATIONS

UNO Low Residency MFA Summer Session Reading, UNO: Nebraska City: July 2018
UNO Fall Reading Series—Omaha, NE: September 2017
Sewanee Writers’ Conference—Fellows Reading, University of the South: Sewanee, TN: July 2017
Book and Author Festival—Reader and Panel Participant, Green Bay, WI: April 28-30, 2017
University of Wisconsin Green Bay Campus Visit/Reading, Green Bay, WI: April 27, 2017
Trinity Valley School Campus Visit/Reading, Fort Worth, TX: April 21-22, 2017
Backwaters Press Reading Series at Gallery 1516, Omaha, NE: February 2017
Imaginary Reading Series, Mister Toad’s, Omaha, NE: January 2017
Crab Orchard Series in Poetry AWP Onsite Reading, Los Angeles, CA: March 2016
University of Oregon (poetry reading), Eugene, OR: February 2016
Oregon Writers’ Collective (featured reader, poetry), Eugene, OR: February 2016
University of Idaho (poetry reading), Moscow, ID: January 2016Granary Art Center Reading/Q&A–Ephraim, UT: Fall 2015
UWGB Reading, Q&A, Guest Judging–University of Wisconsin Green Bay, Green Bay, WI: Fall 2015
Devils Kitchen Literary Festival Reading, Q&A, Panel–Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL: Fall 2015
The King’s English Reading/Q&A–Salt Lake City, UT: Fall 2015
Best New Poets Reading & Panel–AWP Onsite, Minneapolis, MN: Spring 2015
Formed Landscapes: Four Writers on the North Reading & Panel–AWP onsite, Minneapolis, MN: Spring 2015
City Arts Reading Series—Salt Lake City Public Library, Salt Lake City, UT: Fall 2014
Kore Press Best of 2012 AWP off-site reading at Black Coffee Coop, Seattle, WA: Spring 2014
Middle Coast Poets Quarterly Reading Series: Milwaukee, WI: Fall 2013
University of Utah’s Guest Writers Series (Levis Prize Reading), Salt Lake City, UT: Fall 2012 Working Dog Series featured reader (nonfiction), University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT: Spring 2013 Country Dog Review AWP offsite reading (poetry) Boston, MA: Winter 2013
Black Lawrence Press/Devil’s Lake Review AWP off-site reading (poetry), Chicago, IL: Winter 2012 Ken Sanders Rare Books (poetry), Salt Lake City, UT: Fall 2011
UP Book Tour, Upper Peninsula of Michigan: Summer 2011
Sewanee Writers’ Conference (Tennessee Williams Scholarship), Sewanee TN: Summer 2011
Best New Poets Reading, Salt Lake City, UT: Fall 2010
Sewanee Writers’ Conference (poetry), University of the South, Sewanee, TN: Summer 2009
WNMU-FM Public Radio 90 (poetry), NMU: Winter 2006, 2008, & 2009
Indiana University Graduate Conference: Open Secrets (nonfiction), Bloomington, IN: Winter 2008 Graduate Writers’ Association Featured Reader (poetry/nonfiction), NMU: Fall 2006 & 2007
UWGB Honors Reading (poetry), Neville Museum, Green Bay, WI: Winter 2004

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

University of Nebraska at Omaha Writer’s Workshop

• Coordinator for UNO WRWS Reading Series: Spring 2017 – Present
• Faculty Advisor for the student-run campus literary journal, 13^thFloor: Spring 2018 – Present

Snow College

• Faculty Advisor for the student-run campus literary journal, Weeds: Fall 2014 – Present

Black Lawrence Press

• Contest Judge (annual): Black River Chapbook Competition: Fall 2012 – Present

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay

• Contest Judge: Sheepshead Review Rising Phoenix Contest (nonfiction): Spring 2012

Northern Michigan University

• President of Graduate Writers’ Association: 2009 – 2010
• Intern for Visiting Writers Program, Department of English: Fall 2008
• Featured Speaker for Graduate Teaching Assistant Q&A: Summer 2008 & 2009
• Contest Judge: Elinor Benedict Poetry Contest, 2009; Barnard/Houston Awards (composition), 2006 – 2010
• Coordinator & Judge: Legler Memorial Poetry Prize: 2009
• Representative for Graduate Curriculum Committee, Department of English: 2005-2010
• Appeal Essay Reader, Department of English: 2008-2010
• Facilitator for Teaching Colloquia, Department of English: 2006-2007

Green Bay Area Campus & Community Reading Series & Workshops

• Writers’ Union Coordinator, Reading & Workshop Series, UWGB: 2002 – 2003
• Facilitator & Emcee for The Attic Books & Coffee Reading Series, Green Bay, WI: 2002-2004

INTERVIEWS & TALKS

UNO Low Residency MFA Summer Session Craft Talk, UNO: Nebraska City: July 2018
Creighton University Classroom/Campus Visit with Trey Moody’s MFA Poetry Workshop: 2018
Marshall University Classroom/Skype Visit with Eric Smith’s Advanced Poetry Class: March 2018
University of Alabama Classroom/Skype Visit with Adam Vine’s Poetry Workshop: March 2018
AWP Pedagogy Panel: “When Students Write What We Dread to Read,” Tampa, FL: March 2018
UntitledTown Blog: “Finding Empowerment in the Vulnerable” (interviewed, Nichole Rued), April 2017
Baylor University Classroom/Skype Visit with Chloe Honum’s poetry class: January 2017
Black Lawrence Press: “Body Language & 80’s Jingles: Voice & Growth in Poetry” (interview): Oct. 2016
Central Michigan University Classroom/Skype Visit with Jeffrey Bean’s poetry class: Sept. 2016
Saint Lawrence University Classroom/Skype Visit with Lillian-Yvonne Bertram’s poetry class: May 2016
University of Oregon: “The Structure of Grief: Transcending Elegy” (craft talk): Feb. 2016
Prairie Schooner: ‘The Strange Spinning that is Grief” interviewed by Katie Schmid Henson: Jan. 2016
Southern Illinois University Classroom/Skype Visit with Emily Rose Cole’s poetry class: Dec. 2015
Sheepshead Review & UWGB Creative Writing Blog, Interviewed by Roberto Rodriguez, UWGB: Fall 2015
Daily Egyptian Newspaper, Interviewed by Cory Ray, Southern Illinois University: Fall 2015
Southern Illinois University Press Blog, Interviewed by Kirk Schlueter, Southern Illinois University: Fall 2015
WNMU-FM, Interviewed by Stan Wright at Northern Michigan University: Summer 2015
Speaking of Marvels: interviews about chapbooks, Interviewed by William Kelley Woolfitt: Winter 2014
Linebreak Blog, Interviewed by Ashley McHugh, ed.: Summer 2009

ACADEMIC MENTIONS & MEMBERSHIPS

Academy of American Poets: 2010 – Present
Modern Languages Association (MLA): 2010 – Present
Associated Writers and Writing Programs (AWP): 2007 – Present
Graduate Writers’ Association (member), NMU: 2005 – 2010
Writers’ Union Student Organization (founding member), UWGB: 2002 – 2004
Sheepshead Review Student Organization (founding member), UWGB: 2002 – 2004
Sigma Tau Delta (member), 2003 – Present
Phi Kappa Phi (member), 2003 – Present

FOREIGN  LANGUAGE

Classical Latin, Advanced Proficiency