Diann Blakely

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Diann Blakely (June 1, 1957 – August 5, 2014) was an American poet, essayist, editor, and critic.[1][2] She taught at Belmont University, Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, led workshops at two Vermont College residencies, and served as senior instructor and the first poet-in-residence at the Harpeth Hall School in Nashville, Tennessee.[2] A "Robert Frost Fellow" at Bread Loaf, she was a Dakin Williams Fellow at the Sewanee Writers' Conference at which she had worked earlier as founding coordinator.[2]

Life and work[]

Born Harriet Diann Blakely in Anniston, Alabama on June 1, 1957,[3] Blakely graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in art history from the University of the South in 1979,[2] she subsequently received a Master of Arts in literature from Vanderbilt University in 1980 and a Master of Fine Arts from Vermont College in 1989.[2] Her first volume of poetry, Hurricane Walk, was published under the name Diann Blakely Shoaf in 1992.[2] Subsequently, the St. Louis Post Dispatch named it as one of the ten best verse collections published that year.[1] Her second book, Farewell, My Lovelies, published in 2000 and influenced by "noir" shading, was listed as a Choice of the Academy of American Poets' Book Club.[4] Her third volume, Cities of Flesh and the Dead, won Elixir Press's 7th annual publication prize after being distinguished by the Poetry Society of America's , given for a year's best manuscript-in-progress.[5][6] Anthologized in several volumes, including Best American Poetry 2003 and Pushcart Prize Anthologies XIX and XX,[2] Prior to her death, Blakely was working on two new manuscripts entitled Rain in Our Door: Duets with Robert Johnson and Lost Addresses: New and Selected Poems [1][2][3]

Diann Blakely’s much anticipated Lost Addresses: New & Selected Poems was published by Salmon Poetry in February 2017.

Blakely was a former poetry editor at the Antioch Review and at New World Writing[7] and served on Plath Profiles' board.[8] She contributed essays, poetry, and reviews to that journal and to many other publication, including the Harvard Review, Nashville Scene, Village Voice Media, Pleiades, and Smartish Pace.[2][9]

Blakely died in Brunswick, GA, on August 5, 2014 after complications from a chronic lung disorder. She was 57.[3]

Awards[]

Selected publications[]

  • Rain in Our Door: Duets with Robert Johnson (White Pine Press, 2018) [10]
  • Lost Addresses: New & Selected Poems (Salmon Poetry, 2017)
  • Cities of Flesh and the Dead (Elixir Press, 2008)
  • Farewell, My Lovelies (Story Line Press, 2000)
  • Hurricane Walk (BOA Editions, Ltd., 1992)

Poems[]

Anthologies[]

  • Whatever Remembers Us: An Anthology of Alabama Poetry (Negative Capability Press, 2007)
  • Best American Poets 2003 (Scribner, 2003)
  • Orpheus and Company: Contemporary Poems on Greek Mythology (UPNE, 1999)
  • The Movies: Texts, Receptions, Exposures (University of Michigan Press, 1997)
  • Pushcart Prize Anthologies XIX and XX (Pushcart Press, 1996 and 1997)
  • Lights, Camera, Poetry!: American Movie Poems, The First Hundred Years (Mariner Books, 1996)
  • Homewords (University of Tennessee Press, 1986)

Reviews and essays[]

Harvard Review[]

The Best American Poetry[]

New World Writing[]

Nashville Scene[]

Plath Profiles[]

Poets.org[]

Smartish Pace[]

Swampland[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c Komunyakaa, Yusef (2003). The Best American Poetry 2003 : Series Editor David Lehman. New York: Scribner. pp. 193–4. ISBN 0-7432-0388-7.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i "Diann Blakely (b. 1957)". utc.edu. 2010. Archived from the original on August 25, 2013. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Harriet Diann Blakely Obituary by The Tennessean". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2014-08-11.
  4. ^ Lehman, David (2000). The perfect murder: a study in detection. Ann Arbor, Mich: University of Michigan Press. p. 222. ISBN 0-472-08585-9.
  5. ^ Emma Bolden Cities of Flesh and the Dead, Poets' Quarterly, Issue 2 - Winter 2010)
  6. ^ Pablo Tanguay 'Facing the Black-Winged Angel', Nashville Scene October 02, 2008
  7. ^ New World Writing Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  8. ^ Plath Profiles Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  9. ^ "Diann Blakely." Avatar Review. Retrieved August 25, 2013.
  10. ^ "Tribute by Hélène Cardona in The American Journal of Poetry".

External links[]

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