February 16, 2012 — New College of Florida announces poet Shira Dentz as the 2012 writer-in-residence. Now in its 11th year, the New College writer-in-residence program brings a published writer to campus each spring to teach classes and hold workshops for students interested in creative writing. The writer-in-residence also gives public readings in the community.
“The college is truly lucky to have Shira as our Visiting Writer this year,” said Robert Zamsky, assistant professor of English at New College. “She has an impressive range of expertise, and her own work is singularly exciting. I’m already hearing great things from students, and the semester’s just started.”
Shira Dentz is the author of black seeds on a white dish (Shearsman Books), a book of poems that was nominated for the PEN/Osterweil Award 2011. She is also the author of a chapbook, Leaf Weather (Tilt Press), and door of thin skins, a forthcoming book from CavanKerry Press. Her poems and stories have appeared in many journals such as American Poetry Review, The Iowa Review, New American Writing, jubilat and Brooklyn Rail. Her awards include an Academy of American Poets’ Prize, The Poetry Society of America’s Lyric Poem and Cecil Hemley Memorial Awards, Electronic Poetry Review’s Discovery Award, and Painted Bride Quarterly’s Poetry Prize. She holds an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. Prior to her current role as reviews editor for Drunken Boat, Dentz was the poetry co-editor of Quarterly West. In addition to writing and teaching, Dentz is also a freelance graphic artist.
Previous visiting authors at New College have included Adam Davies, Wendy Call, Sandy Florian, Catherine Daly, Nick Carbo, Jennifer S. Davis, Lenore Hart, Bette Pesetsky, Matthew Sharpe and Liesl Litzenberger.
For more information, visit ncf.edu/writers-in-residence or contact the Office of Public Affairs at 941-487-4153 or [email protected].
# # #