Education
• PhD, Focus on Contemporary Women's Poetry and multiple ideologies and voices in lyric poetry. University of Texas at Dallas, May 2008. Dissertation: “Reclaiming the Dialogic, Reframing the Topics: Culture, Violence, and Eros in Contemporary American Women’s Lyric Poetry.” Director: Robert S. Nelsen. Qualifying exams in African American literature, American women’s literature, and 20th century international poetry
• M.A., Studies in Literature, Focus on Poetry. University of Texas at Dallas, May 2002. Thesis: “The Poetry of Ambivalence: Searching for Questions in the Work of Marianne Moore, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said), and Paula Gunn Allen.” Poetry manuscript: Sea Gardens. Director: Rainer Schulte
• Post Graduate Certificate of Education, 1992, University of Hertfordshire, U.K. Qualified to teach primary school (ages 3-11) in England and Wales
• B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Business Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1988
• International Exchange Program of Study, English Literature, University of Swansea, Wales, 1987-88
Writing Awards
• Shortlisted for Eyewear Press's Beverly Prize for the poetry collection Between My Country and the Others [in search of a kinder world], December 2016
• Semi-finalist, 2016 Orison Anthology Awards for a group of poems, Sept 2016
• Finalist in the 2016 ILA Reynolds Price Award in Fiction for the short story "Proximity," spring 2016
• Winner, Able Muse's Prize in Fiction for the short story "After Reading the News Story of a Woman Who Attempted to Carry Her Dead Baby onto an Airplane," selected by Eugenia Kim, 2015
• Winner, Fiction International's Short Short Story Contest for the flash fiction piece 'Talking Trojans," selected by Harold Jaffe, 2015.
• Runner-up, Meridian's Flash Fiction Contest for the flash fiction piece "Lymphatic," 2015
• Finalist, Arts & Letters Unclassifiables Contest for the short story/lyric piece "The Wall," 2015
• Pushcart Prize Nomination for the poem "At a Truck Stop on Highway 124," nominated by The Lascaux Review, 2015
• Pushcart Prize Nomination for the poem "Time Zones and the Art of Healing," nominated by The Inflectionist Review, 2015
• GOSS183's Independent Best American Poetry Anthology nomination for the poem "Time Zones and the Art of Healing," nominated by The Inflectionist Review, 2015
• Finalist, 2015 River Styx Schlafly Beer Micro-Brew Micro-Fiction Contest for a group of three stories
• Finalist, The University of Louisville's Calvino Prize for the short story "Where Our Hands Rest in the Night," selected by Robert Coover, 2014
• Finalist, A Room of Her Own (AROHO)'s Clarissa Dalloway Book Prize for the novel The Cartography of Flesh: in the silence of Ella Mendelssohn, selected by Kate Gale, 2014
• Finalist, Black Lawrence Press's Hudson Prize for the poetry collection Between My Country and the Others, 2014
• Honorable Mention, Able Muse Write Prize for the short story "Penelope thinks she remembers her father" (an excerpt from novel), selected by Amit Majmudar, 2014
• Finalist, Mid-American Review's Fineline Contest for for the flash fiction piece "Panoply," 2014
• Finalist, Tupelo Quarterly's Open Prose Contest for the prose poem "Ode to the Stairs," selected by E.J. Levy, 2014
• Finalist, Southeast Review's Gearhart Poetry Prize for the long poem "Ring Out, Wild Bells, the Voices of our Nation's Streets" selected by Barbara Hamby, 2014
• Runner-up, Tupelo Quarterly's Open Prose Contest for "The Unreliable Patient," selected by Matt Bell, 2014
• Semi-finalist, Tupelo Quarterly Open Poetry Contest for the poem "Qumran," 2013
• Pushcart Prize Nomination for the poem "Terra Incognita," nominated by Gold Wake Press, 2013
• Excellence in the Creative/Performing Arts Award for poems published in Illyria, Fjala, and PENA International (in both English and Albanian translations), University of Texas at Dallas, 2005
• Second Place, Sean Christopher Britton Memorial Award in Poetry, Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers, for a series of poems nominated by Dr. Robert Nelsen, head of Creative Writing, UTD, 2002
Publications
(Note: Publications prior to 2011 are in the name Andrea Witzke Leavey)
BOOKS
• To find a new beauty, poetry collection, Boston: Gold Wake Press, 2012
SCHOLARLY WORK / anthologies
• Dialogism and Poetry: Hearing Over (ed. Chad Engbers and Mara Scanlon), Palgrave Macmillon, 2014. Scholarly essay: "Dialogic Poetry as Emancipatory Technology: Ventriloquy and Voiceovers in the Social Junctures of Harryette Mullen’s Muse & Drudge"
• Inhabiting La Patria: Identity, Agency, and Antojo in the Work of Julia Alvarez (ed. Rebecca Harrison and Emily Hipchen), NY: SUNY Press, 2013. Scholarly essay: “‘Between the Scylla and the Charybdis’: Navigating the Dialogic Waters of Julia Alvarez’s ‘The Other Side/El Otro Lado.’”
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS - Fiction & Poetry
• Acumen, "Standing near my father's work" (poem), forthcoming
• Under the Radar, "Open" (poem), forthcoming
• Kettle Blue Review: "Minister of Milk" (prose poem), Oct 2017
• Acumen, "Bookends" (poem), Feb 2017
• Kudzu House Quarterly - "The Slug" (poem), Dec 2016
• Pirene's Fountain, "That which once was" and "Between my country and the others--a sea" (poems), Nov 2016
• Sage Hill Press (online), "That which once was" (poem), Oct 2016
• Ambit - "Between my country and the others, as ministry" (poem), Oct 2016
• Litro Online (#SundayStories) - "The Wall" (fiction), Oct 2016
• The Rappahannock Review, "The Palm of Proprioception" (prose poem) and "Last Day to Save on Sarah Jaeger’s 'Throwing and Alternative Video'" (poem), Sept 2016
• The American Literary Review, "Homeostasis," (poem), spring 2016
• Under the Radar, "Sacrum," (poem), spring 2016
• Fiction Southeast, "Caterpillar" (fiction), Feb 2016
• Meridian, "Lymphatic" Runner-up in Meridian's 2015 Flash Fiction Contest, (flash fiction) Jan 2016
• Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry, "My Last Mechanic" (poem), spring 2015
• Able Muse Review - "After Reading the News Story of a Woman Who Attempted to Carry Her Dead Baby onto an Airplane," Winner of the 2015 Able Muse Prize, (fiction) Dec 2015
• Lunch Ticket's Amuse-Bouche "I want to die the way my dog sleeps," "In Gratitude of the Strange Phenomenon of Reynaud's," "It doesn't spell disaster" (poems), Spring/Summer Issue, Nov 2015
• Lascaux Review, "At a Truck Stop on Highway 124" (poem), Sept 2015
• Crab Orchard Review, "The Incubator" (poem), Vol 20, No 1, Winter/Spring 2015
• Poetry East, "Llama: lama glama" (poem), No 84 & 85, Summer 2015
• Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, "Geometric" (poem),Vol 58, No 2, Spring/ Summer 2015
• The Adirondack Review, "The Psychologists' Room" (flash fiction/prose poem), Summer 2015
• The Inflectionist Review, "Time Zones and the Art of Healing" and "Disguises" (poems) May 2015
• Fiction International, "Talking Trojans" (fiction), winner of FI's 2015 Short Short Fiction Contest, May 2015
• Litro Magazine (NY), "Penelope thinks she remembers her father" (fiction), April 2015
• Southeast Review, "Ring Out, Wild Bells, Voices of our Nation's Streets" (long poem), a finalist in SER's Gearhart Poetry Prize, Feb 2015
• Mezzo Cammin, "Book Burning" and "Spindles, Time, Cancer" (poems), Vol. 9, Issue 2, Dec 2014
• Mid-American Review, "Panoply" (flash fiction/prose poem), a finalist in MAR's Fineline Competition, Vol. XXXV, No 1, Fall 2014
• Segue, "Regret" (poem), Vol 12, Fall 2014
• Bellevue Literary Review, "Inscriptions" (poem). Vol. 14, No. 2, Sept 2014
• Spoon River Poetry Review, "Blood Ties" (poem), Vol. 39.1, July 2014
• Tupelo Quarterly, "Ode to the Stairs," (flash fiction/prose poem), a finalist in TQ's Open Prose Contest, July 2014
• Tupelo Quarterly, "The Unreliable Patient," (flash fiction/prose poem), runner-up in TQ's Open Prose Contest, Jan 2014
• Jet Fuel Review, "Root Position" and "Lexiphilia" (poems), Nov 2013
• Tupelo Quarterly, "Qumran" (poem), Oct 2013
• Ginosko Literary Journal: “Appellations,” “Self-Portrait, Desk,” “Self-Portrait, Tree,” “Self-Portrait, Oceans,” and “Eye Witnesses” (poems), 2012
• Verse Daily: “Terra Incognita” (poem), June 2012
• THIS Literary Magazine: “This Silent Night” and “May Irwin’s Entertainments” (poems), Issue 14, March/April 2012
• Written River: A Journal of Eco-Poetics (Hiraeth Press), “The Ataxic Queen of the Lasius Niger,” “Terra Incognita,” “Rara Avis” (poems), Vol. 2, Issue 2, 2011
• Chiron Review: “The Nymph on the Urn” (poem), Issue 96: 1046-8898, Autumn 2011
• Alba: A Journal of Short Poetry: “Seeds” and “Spring Gentian” (poems), Issue #22, Sept 2011
• Connotation Press: John Hoppethaller's Congeries: “The Cartography of Flesh” and “L’eta D’oro: The Golden Age” (prose poem/poem), May 2011
• Sea Stories (ed. Casey Schulke and K.R. Copeland): “The Night Light: A Lullaby,” “Lyonesse,” “Hawks Nest, St. John, USVI” (poems), Apr 2011
• The Houston Literary Review: “The Hotel Bed” (poem), Feb 2011
• Southern Women’s Review: “Ode to a Bear: Part II” (poem) Vol. 2, Issue 2, Jan 2010
• Nacional (Poems in Translation): “Shadows” (Hijet), “Mmii” (MMII), “The forgotten City” (Qyteti i harruar), “Ode to a bear: Part I” (Ode për një ari), “Penance” (Pendesë), “A dog, like fiction” (Një qen, si letërsia artistike), “A cat, like poetry” (Një mace, si poezia), “Hawks nest, St. Johns, USVI” (Hauks nest, St. john, USVI) and “The new bed” (Krevati i ri), Vol 1. No. 5, March 2009
• PENA International, same series of poems as above, N.R. 2, 2005
• A&R Traductores (in translation): “the mechanics” (poem), Editor and translator Tomás Ayala-Torres, 2006
• Illyria: Reprint of poems in PENA International, Vol. 14, No. 1344, May 2004
• Fjala (The Word): same series of poems in PENA International, March 2004
• The Pacific Review: “The new bed,” (poem), Vol. 22, Fall 2004
• Valdosta Voice, “Ordinary Sunday IV” (short story), Spring 2003
• Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review: “A dog, like fiction” and “A cat, like poetry” (poems), No. 19, Fall/Winter 2002
• Bogg: Delaware Poetry Review: “The pub on saturday night” (poem), No. 71, Spring 2001
POETRY ANTHOLOGIES
• Red Sky /poetry on the global epidemic of violence against women (Sable Books, 2016) - "Dear Police Officer" (prose poem)
• All We Can Hold: A Collection of Poetry on Motherhood (Sage Hill Press, 2016), "To my daughter who came into my bedroom last night” and “What recovery looks like"
• The Femmes Folles Anthology: Bared (mico-feminist Press, 2016), ed. Laura Madeline Wiseman, "Just Another Breast Poem"
• The Inflectionist Review Print Anthology. ed. John Sibley Williams and A. Molotkov, reprint of poems "Time Zones and the Art of Healing" and "Disguises"
• The Ginosko Anthology #3, (Mad Press, 2016), ed. Robert Cesaretti, reprint of poem "Appellations"
• Contemporary American Poetry / Poezia bashkëkohore amerikane (ed. and trans. by Gjeke Marinaj). Tirana: The International Centre of Culture / Qendra ndërkombëtare e cultures, 2006. Poems (in translation) selected for inclusion: “Shadows” (Hijet), “Mmii” (MMII), “The forgotten City” (Qyteti i harruar), “Ode to a bear: Part I” (Ode për një ari), “Penance” (Pendesë), “A dog, like fiction” (Një qen, si letërsia artistike), “A cat, like poetry” (Një mace, si poezia), “Hawks nest, St. Johns, USVI” (Hauks nest, St. john, USVI) & “The New bed” (Krevati iri)
ESSAYS
• Perine's Fountain: "Imagining the Artist’s Place in the World: The Philosophical Meditations in the poems of Shanta Acharya’s Imagine: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins, India, 2017)
• The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The View from both Sides of the Track (and how the Tenure Track can better help the Non-tenure Track Cause," June 2014
• The Chronicle of Higher Education: "It's About More than Money: the contingent labor force need careers, not just jobs," February 2014
• Fifth Wednesday Journal: “Whom do you trust?” Spring 2013
• Fifth Wednesday Journal: “Why we need book reviews,” Fall 2012
• Translation Review: “The Pages of Day and Night by Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said),” No. 61, 2001. Published under Andrea Witzke Leavey; available from from Talyor & Francis/Routledge online.
PODCASTS/TELEVISION/INTERVIEWS
• Interview, Mid-American Review, 2015
• "Poetry Today," hosted by Lois Barr, 2014
• WBEZ Podcast of Woman Made Gallery Culture and Consumption Reading: series of poems from To find a new beauty, June 2012
Editorships
• Associate Poetry Editor, RHINO Poetry, 2011-2015
• Book Review Editor, Fifth Wednesday Journal, 2012-2015
• Editor, Afghan Women’s Writing Project, National Poetry Month Project, 2012
• Editor-in-Chief, Sojourn: A Journal of the Arts, 2003-2005
• Poetry Editor, Sojourn: A Journal of the Arts, 2002
• Associate Editor, Sojourn: A Journal of the Arts, 2001
Teaching
University of Illinois at Chicago, Full-time Lecturer, Department of English, Fall 2009-2014
• English 490: Advanced Poetry Writing
• English 240: Introduction to Literary Study and Critical Methods
• English 109: American Culture and Literature
• English 160 and 161: Academic Writing I & II - Designed several courses in both blended (online and traditional mix) and traditional format, including:
Collin College, Full-time Core Professor (Tenure-track equivalent), Department of English, 2005-2008
• English 2308: Creative Writing - Creating Poetry
• English 2343: Introduction to Literature - Poetry and Drama
• English 2333: World Literature I (to 1650)
• English 2332: World Literature II (1650-present)
• English 2328: American Literature II (1865-Present)
• English 1302/Humanities 1301: Learning Community Class (a co-taught, dual-credit class): “Painters and Poets/Writers and Ruins”
• English 1302 Composition/Rhetoric II
• English 1301 Composition/Rhetoric I
University of Texas at Dallas, Teaching Fellow, 2000-2005
• Creative Writing 3351: Creating Poetry
• Literature 3314: Introduction to Modern and Contemporary Poetry
• Literature 2341: Literary Analysis
• Literature 3304: Advanced Composition
• Rhetoric 1302: Composition/Rhetoric (incorporated the use of technology in the classroom, including LinguaMoo and The Learning Record Online).
• Academic Bridge Program (ABP) Instructor: Program for students who graduate from Dallas-area urban high schools with high class rankings but with limited university preparation
Writing Center Instructor, Collin College, 2003-2005
• Provided tutoring for students and helped expand the hours and scope of the writing center
Primary School Classroom Teacher, London Borough of Barnet, England, 1992-1999
• Taught the nine areas of the British National Curriculum with a primary specialty in English
• Personal and Social Health Education Coordinator, 1994-1999
• School Pianist, 1995-1999
Readings & Lectures
• Featured Reader, Illinois State Poetry Society, Brewed Awakening Reading Series, Nov 2015
• Poetry Foundation, Open Door Series, March 2015
• Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Aug 2014
• Gold Wake Press Poets, AWP, Seattle, Feb 2014
• Guest on the local TV program "Poetry Today," Highland Park, IL, Feb 2014
• Featured Reader: Highland Park Poetry Association, Sept 2013
• Introductory Speaker: “An evening with Marge Piercy and Ira Wood,” Poetry Foundation: April 2013
• Reader with Gold Wake Press Poets, Trident Book Store, AWP Off-site Reading, March 2013
• Featured Reader with Debra Bruce: Women & Children First, Feb 2013
• Featured Reader: PWR Series, SUNY-Stony Brook, Oct 2012
• Featured Reader: Molly Mallone’s Literary Reading Series, Oct 2012
• Reader: Creative Writing Panel, FYWP Opening Conference, UIC, Fall 2010, 2011, and 2012
• Featured Reader: Art and Consumer Culture, Woman Made Gallery, June 2012
• Featured Reader: Rhino Reads Series, Bros K, Chicago, April 2012
• Featured Reader: Graduate Student Association, University of Texas at Dallas, April 2012
• Featured Reader and Lecturer: "Scholarly Research and Life" Series, Collin College, Texas, April 2012
• Featured Reader: The Writers' Garrett, National Poetry Month Reading, Dallas, April 2012
• Featured Reader: The Cafe, Chicago, Fall 2011
• Reader: Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Student Night, Henri Cole Advanced Poetry Workshop, Summer 2011
• Reader: Poetry Reading with Marge Piercy, Poetry Intensive, Wellfleet, Summer 2010
• Featured Reader: Annual Showcase Reading of Creative Work by faculty, Collin College, 2005-2008
• Panel Moderator: “Plano Book Festival,” 2005
• Featured Reader: Dan Bros Coffee House, 2005
• Invited Lecture/Presentation: “Improving College Level Writing,” Writing Workshop: Collin College, 2005
• Invited Lecture/Presentation: “PhD Qualifying Exams: A Survival Guide,” Graduate Student Association, UT-D, 2005
• Introductory Speaker: Poetry Workshop Sessions, Plano Book Festival, 2005
• Invited Interview with UTD Mercury Reporter Farraz Khan (as editor of Sojourn: A literary Journal of the Arts). The Mercury Newspaper, Vol. XXIV, No. 17, Nov 2004
• Poetry Reading, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review. Fall/winter release, Austin, Texas, 2002
• Poetry Reading, Sean Christopher Britton Memorial Award, Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers Annual Conference. Lamar University, 2002
Workshops & Judgeships
• Judge, Illinois Emerging Poets Competition, 2013, 2014, 2015
• Poetry and Patron Workshop Series (co-taught with Debra Bruce), Aug 2015
• Poetry Workshop Leader, "Developing Voice and Dialogue in the Poetic Form," Northwest Cultural Council, Sept 2014
• Judge, Poetry Out Loud, Regional Competition, Poetry Foundation, 2012, 2013, 2014
• Poetry Workshop Leader, "On Becoming a Poet," Chicago Public Library, CityVerse Workshop Series, Fall 2013
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Making Music: Orchestrating Sound and Sense in a Poem,” Northwest Cultural Council, June 2013
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Organizing and Editing a Collection,” Rhino Poetry Forum Workshops, Evanston Public Library, May 2012
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Personal Training for Poets: Mapping 10,000 Hours of Poetry,” Poetry Fest 2012, Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago Public Library, April, 2012
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Imagery: No Ideas but in Things,” Northwest Cultural Council (NWCC), Palatine, Feb 2012
• Judge, Poetry Prize, Graduate Conference at the University of North Texas, 2007
• Poetry Workshop Leader, Dallas Public Libraries, 2006
• Judge, Dallas Public Library Poetry Contest, 2006
• Judge, Plano Independent School District’s “Reflections Literature Contest,” 2006
• Judge, Sigler Dallas Public School Poetry Contest, 2005
• Workshop leader for a series of programs, including: “Effective Parenting,” “Managing Children’s Behavior,” “The Prevention and handling of bullying,” and “Children’s self-esteem,” Woodcroft, London Borough of Barnet, 1995-99
Conferences & Lectures
• Panelist: “Write on Your Own Time: Scholarship and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members," MLA 2014
• Presenter: “’Between the Scylla and The Charybdis”: Navigating the Dialogic Waters in Julia Alvarez’s “The Other Side/El Otro Lado.” UIC English Department Symposium, Spring 2013
• Panelist: “Strategies for Teaching McCarthy’s The Road as Poem, Eco-Dystopia, and Zombie Survival Guide.” American Literature Association Symposium on American Fiction. New Orleans, October 2012
• Chair: Transnational American Literature, American Literature Association Panel, May 2011
• Presenter: “’Between the Scylla and The Charybdis”: Navigating the Cultural Waters in Julia Alvarez’s “The Other Side/El Otro Lado.” American Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, 2010
• Presenter: “Curating Memories: Incremental Reappropriations and Cultural Identity in Louise Erdrich’s ‘The Seven Sleepers.’” NeMLA Conference, Buffalo, New York, 2008
• Presenter: “Ambivalence, Bilingualism, and Orality in the poetry of Julia Alvarez.” Faculty Conference, Plano, Texas, 2007
• Presenter: “The New Realm of War: Disruptive Dialogism and Violence in Contemporary American Women’s Poetry.” Popular Culture Association/American Studies Association Conference, Boston, 2007
• Presenter: “Words as Weapons: Dialogism and Eros in the Poetry of Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Hacker, and Susan Mitchell.” Poetry and Politics Conference, University of Stirling, Scotland, 2006
• Panel Speaker, “Auteur Film Series: Babette,” Collin College, 2006
• Presenter: “Audience and Human Intimacy: The Theatre of Disruptive Dialogics in Contemporary American Women’s Poetry.” Panel on Audience and Human Intimacy. American Comparative Literature Association, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 2006
• Presenter: “An Editor’s Perspective: From the Voice Inside to the Audience Outside: The Challenges of Gaining Audience for Prison Initiative Writers.” (After publishing a series of Prison Initiative poems as editor of Sojourn.) Panel on “Contemporary American Prison Writing.” Popular Culture Association/American Studies Association Conference, San Diego, California, 2005
• Guest Lecturer: “Emily Dickinson and Innovation,” Collin College, 2004
• Presenter: “The Magic Mirror of Sexton’s Transformations: The Inadvertent Reshaping of the Fairy Tale Female.” Women in Literature panel: “Postmodern Heroines: The Fairy Tale in 20th century Literature and Film.” M/MLA, St. Louis, Missouri, 2004
• Presenter: “The Usurping of Pecola Breedlove: Re-examining the Spiritual Scaffolding of Community and Self in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.” Southern Writers Southern Writing, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, 2003
• Presenter: “Sea Gardens: a story in eight prose poems.” The Status of Contemporary American Poetry and Literature Conference, Baylor University, Texas, 2003
• Presenter: “Anti-Bullying: Strategies for Success,” a program for staff and faculty, Woodcroft, London Borough of Barnet, 1999
Letters of reference and full dossier available from:
Mickey Choate, Associate Director
UT-Dallas Career Center
P.O. Box 830688, MC16
Richardson, TX 75083-0688
Office: 972.883.4270
Email: mickey.choate@utdallas.edu
• PhD, Focus on Contemporary Women's Poetry and multiple ideologies and voices in lyric poetry. University of Texas at Dallas, May 2008. Dissertation: “Reclaiming the Dialogic, Reframing the Topics: Culture, Violence, and Eros in Contemporary American Women’s Lyric Poetry.” Director: Robert S. Nelsen. Qualifying exams in African American literature, American women’s literature, and 20th century international poetry
• M.A., Studies in Literature, Focus on Poetry. University of Texas at Dallas, May 2002. Thesis: “The Poetry of Ambivalence: Searching for Questions in the Work of Marianne Moore, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said), and Paula Gunn Allen.” Poetry manuscript: Sea Gardens. Director: Rainer Schulte
• Post Graduate Certificate of Education, 1992, University of Hertfordshire, U.K. Qualified to teach primary school (ages 3-11) in England and Wales
• B.A. in English Literature, Minor in Business Studies, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 1988
• International Exchange Program of Study, English Literature, University of Swansea, Wales, 1987-88
Writing Awards
• Shortlisted for Eyewear Press's Beverly Prize for the poetry collection Between My Country and the Others [in search of a kinder world], December 2016
• Semi-finalist, 2016 Orison Anthology Awards for a group of poems, Sept 2016
• Finalist in the 2016 ILA Reynolds Price Award in Fiction for the short story "Proximity," spring 2016
• Winner, Able Muse's Prize in Fiction for the short story "After Reading the News Story of a Woman Who Attempted to Carry Her Dead Baby onto an Airplane," selected by Eugenia Kim, 2015
• Winner, Fiction International's Short Short Story Contest for the flash fiction piece 'Talking Trojans," selected by Harold Jaffe, 2015.
• Runner-up, Meridian's Flash Fiction Contest for the flash fiction piece "Lymphatic," 2015
• Finalist, Arts & Letters Unclassifiables Contest for the short story/lyric piece "The Wall," 2015
• Pushcart Prize Nomination for the poem "At a Truck Stop on Highway 124," nominated by The Lascaux Review, 2015
• Pushcart Prize Nomination for the poem "Time Zones and the Art of Healing," nominated by The Inflectionist Review, 2015
• GOSS183's Independent Best American Poetry Anthology nomination for the poem "Time Zones and the Art of Healing," nominated by The Inflectionist Review, 2015
• Finalist, 2015 River Styx Schlafly Beer Micro-Brew Micro-Fiction Contest for a group of three stories
• Finalist, The University of Louisville's Calvino Prize for the short story "Where Our Hands Rest in the Night," selected by Robert Coover, 2014
• Finalist, A Room of Her Own (AROHO)'s Clarissa Dalloway Book Prize for the novel The Cartography of Flesh: in the silence of Ella Mendelssohn, selected by Kate Gale, 2014
• Finalist, Black Lawrence Press's Hudson Prize for the poetry collection Between My Country and the Others, 2014
• Honorable Mention, Able Muse Write Prize for the short story "Penelope thinks she remembers her father" (an excerpt from novel), selected by Amit Majmudar, 2014
• Finalist, Mid-American Review's Fineline Contest for for the flash fiction piece "Panoply," 2014
• Finalist, Tupelo Quarterly's Open Prose Contest for the prose poem "Ode to the Stairs," selected by E.J. Levy, 2014
• Finalist, Southeast Review's Gearhart Poetry Prize for the long poem "Ring Out, Wild Bells, the Voices of our Nation's Streets" selected by Barbara Hamby, 2014
• Runner-up, Tupelo Quarterly's Open Prose Contest for "The Unreliable Patient," selected by Matt Bell, 2014
• Semi-finalist, Tupelo Quarterly Open Poetry Contest for the poem "Qumran," 2013
• Pushcart Prize Nomination for the poem "Terra Incognita," nominated by Gold Wake Press, 2013
• Excellence in the Creative/Performing Arts Award for poems published in Illyria, Fjala, and PENA International (in both English and Albanian translations), University of Texas at Dallas, 2005
• Second Place, Sean Christopher Britton Memorial Award in Poetry, Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers, for a series of poems nominated by Dr. Robert Nelsen, head of Creative Writing, UTD, 2002
Publications
(Note: Publications prior to 2011 are in the name Andrea Witzke Leavey)
BOOKS
• To find a new beauty, poetry collection, Boston: Gold Wake Press, 2012
SCHOLARLY WORK / anthologies
• Dialogism and Poetry: Hearing Over (ed. Chad Engbers and Mara Scanlon), Palgrave Macmillon, 2014. Scholarly essay: "Dialogic Poetry as Emancipatory Technology: Ventriloquy and Voiceovers in the Social Junctures of Harryette Mullen’s Muse & Drudge"
• Inhabiting La Patria: Identity, Agency, and Antojo in the Work of Julia Alvarez (ed. Rebecca Harrison and Emily Hipchen), NY: SUNY Press, 2013. Scholarly essay: “‘Between the Scylla and the Charybdis’: Navigating the Dialogic Waters of Julia Alvarez’s ‘The Other Side/El Otro Lado.’”
JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS - Fiction & Poetry
• Acumen, "Standing near my father's work" (poem), forthcoming
• Under the Radar, "Open" (poem), forthcoming
• Kettle Blue Review: "Minister of Milk" (prose poem), Oct 2017
• Acumen, "Bookends" (poem), Feb 2017
• Kudzu House Quarterly - "The Slug" (poem), Dec 2016
• Pirene's Fountain, "That which once was" and "Between my country and the others--a sea" (poems), Nov 2016
• Sage Hill Press (online), "That which once was" (poem), Oct 2016
• Ambit - "Between my country and the others, as ministry" (poem), Oct 2016
• Litro Online (#SundayStories) - "The Wall" (fiction), Oct 2016
• The Rappahannock Review, "The Palm of Proprioception" (prose poem) and "Last Day to Save on Sarah Jaeger’s 'Throwing and Alternative Video'" (poem), Sept 2016
• The American Literary Review, "Homeostasis," (poem), spring 2016
• Under the Radar, "Sacrum," (poem), spring 2016
• Fiction Southeast, "Caterpillar" (fiction), Feb 2016
• Meridian, "Lymphatic" Runner-up in Meridian's 2015 Flash Fiction Contest, (flash fiction) Jan 2016
• Measure: A Review of Formal Poetry, "My Last Mechanic" (poem), spring 2015
• Able Muse Review - "After Reading the News Story of a Woman Who Attempted to Carry Her Dead Baby onto an Airplane," Winner of the 2015 Able Muse Prize, (fiction) Dec 2015
• Lunch Ticket's Amuse-Bouche "I want to die the way my dog sleeps," "In Gratitude of the Strange Phenomenon of Reynaud's," "It doesn't spell disaster" (poems), Spring/Summer Issue, Nov 2015
• Lascaux Review, "At a Truck Stop on Highway 124" (poem), Sept 2015
• Crab Orchard Review, "The Incubator" (poem), Vol 20, No 1, Winter/Spring 2015
• Poetry East, "Llama: lama glama" (poem), No 84 & 85, Summer 2015
• Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry, "Geometric" (poem),Vol 58, No 2, Spring/ Summer 2015
• The Adirondack Review, "The Psychologists' Room" (flash fiction/prose poem), Summer 2015
• The Inflectionist Review, "Time Zones and the Art of Healing" and "Disguises" (poems) May 2015
• Fiction International, "Talking Trojans" (fiction), winner of FI's 2015 Short Short Fiction Contest, May 2015
• Litro Magazine (NY), "Penelope thinks she remembers her father" (fiction), April 2015
• Southeast Review, "Ring Out, Wild Bells, Voices of our Nation's Streets" (long poem), a finalist in SER's Gearhart Poetry Prize, Feb 2015
• Mezzo Cammin, "Book Burning" and "Spindles, Time, Cancer" (poems), Vol. 9, Issue 2, Dec 2014
• Mid-American Review, "Panoply" (flash fiction/prose poem), a finalist in MAR's Fineline Competition, Vol. XXXV, No 1, Fall 2014
• Segue, "Regret" (poem), Vol 12, Fall 2014
• Bellevue Literary Review, "Inscriptions" (poem). Vol. 14, No. 2, Sept 2014
• Spoon River Poetry Review, "Blood Ties" (poem), Vol. 39.1, July 2014
• Tupelo Quarterly, "Ode to the Stairs," (flash fiction/prose poem), a finalist in TQ's Open Prose Contest, July 2014
• Tupelo Quarterly, "The Unreliable Patient," (flash fiction/prose poem), runner-up in TQ's Open Prose Contest, Jan 2014
• Jet Fuel Review, "Root Position" and "Lexiphilia" (poems), Nov 2013
• Tupelo Quarterly, "Qumran" (poem), Oct 2013
• Ginosko Literary Journal: “Appellations,” “Self-Portrait, Desk,” “Self-Portrait, Tree,” “Self-Portrait, Oceans,” and “Eye Witnesses” (poems), 2012
• Verse Daily: “Terra Incognita” (poem), June 2012
• THIS Literary Magazine: “This Silent Night” and “May Irwin’s Entertainments” (poems), Issue 14, March/April 2012
• Written River: A Journal of Eco-Poetics (Hiraeth Press), “The Ataxic Queen of the Lasius Niger,” “Terra Incognita,” “Rara Avis” (poems), Vol. 2, Issue 2, 2011
• Chiron Review: “The Nymph on the Urn” (poem), Issue 96: 1046-8898, Autumn 2011
• Alba: A Journal of Short Poetry: “Seeds” and “Spring Gentian” (poems), Issue #22, Sept 2011
• Connotation Press: John Hoppethaller's Congeries: “The Cartography of Flesh” and “L’eta D’oro: The Golden Age” (prose poem/poem), May 2011
• Sea Stories (ed. Casey Schulke and K.R. Copeland): “The Night Light: A Lullaby,” “Lyonesse,” “Hawks Nest, St. John, USVI” (poems), Apr 2011
• The Houston Literary Review: “The Hotel Bed” (poem), Feb 2011
• Southern Women’s Review: “Ode to a Bear: Part II” (poem) Vol. 2, Issue 2, Jan 2010
• Nacional (Poems in Translation): “Shadows” (Hijet), “Mmii” (MMII), “The forgotten City” (Qyteti i harruar), “Ode to a bear: Part I” (Ode për një ari), “Penance” (Pendesë), “A dog, like fiction” (Një qen, si letërsia artistike), “A cat, like poetry” (Një mace, si poezia), “Hawks nest, St. Johns, USVI” (Hauks nest, St. john, USVI) and “The new bed” (Krevati i ri), Vol 1. No. 5, March 2009
• PENA International, same series of poems as above, N.R. 2, 2005
• A&R Traductores (in translation): “the mechanics” (poem), Editor and translator Tomás Ayala-Torres, 2006
• Illyria: Reprint of poems in PENA International, Vol. 14, No. 1344, May 2004
• Fjala (The Word): same series of poems in PENA International, March 2004
• The Pacific Review: “The new bed,” (poem), Vol. 22, Fall 2004
• Valdosta Voice, “Ordinary Sunday IV” (short story), Spring 2003
• Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review: “A dog, like fiction” and “A cat, like poetry” (poems), No. 19, Fall/Winter 2002
• Bogg: Delaware Poetry Review: “The pub on saturday night” (poem), No. 71, Spring 2001
POETRY ANTHOLOGIES
• Red Sky /poetry on the global epidemic of violence against women (Sable Books, 2016) - "Dear Police Officer" (prose poem)
• All We Can Hold: A Collection of Poetry on Motherhood (Sage Hill Press, 2016), "To my daughter who came into my bedroom last night” and “What recovery looks like"
• The Femmes Folles Anthology: Bared (mico-feminist Press, 2016), ed. Laura Madeline Wiseman, "Just Another Breast Poem"
• The Inflectionist Review Print Anthology. ed. John Sibley Williams and A. Molotkov, reprint of poems "Time Zones and the Art of Healing" and "Disguises"
• The Ginosko Anthology #3, (Mad Press, 2016), ed. Robert Cesaretti, reprint of poem "Appellations"
• Contemporary American Poetry / Poezia bashkëkohore amerikane (ed. and trans. by Gjeke Marinaj). Tirana: The International Centre of Culture / Qendra ndërkombëtare e cultures, 2006. Poems (in translation) selected for inclusion: “Shadows” (Hijet), “Mmii” (MMII), “The forgotten City” (Qyteti i harruar), “Ode to a bear: Part I” (Ode për një ari), “Penance” (Pendesë), “A dog, like fiction” (Një qen, si letërsia artistike), “A cat, like poetry” (Një mace, si poezia), “Hawks nest, St. Johns, USVI” (Hauks nest, St. john, USVI) & “The New bed” (Krevati iri)
ESSAYS
• Perine's Fountain: "Imagining the Artist’s Place in the World: The Philosophical Meditations in the poems of Shanta Acharya’s Imagine: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins, India, 2017)
• The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The View from both Sides of the Track (and how the Tenure Track can better help the Non-tenure Track Cause," June 2014
• The Chronicle of Higher Education: "It's About More than Money: the contingent labor force need careers, not just jobs," February 2014
• Fifth Wednesday Journal: “Whom do you trust?” Spring 2013
• Fifth Wednesday Journal: “Why we need book reviews,” Fall 2012
• Translation Review: “The Pages of Day and Night by Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said),” No. 61, 2001. Published under Andrea Witzke Leavey; available from from Talyor & Francis/Routledge online.
PODCASTS/TELEVISION/INTERVIEWS
• Interview, Mid-American Review, 2015
• "Poetry Today," hosted by Lois Barr, 2014
• WBEZ Podcast of Woman Made Gallery Culture and Consumption Reading: series of poems from To find a new beauty, June 2012
Editorships
• Associate Poetry Editor, RHINO Poetry, 2011-2015
• Book Review Editor, Fifth Wednesday Journal, 2012-2015
• Editor, Afghan Women’s Writing Project, National Poetry Month Project, 2012
• Editor-in-Chief, Sojourn: A Journal of the Arts, 2003-2005
• Poetry Editor, Sojourn: A Journal of the Arts, 2002
• Associate Editor, Sojourn: A Journal of the Arts, 2001
Teaching
University of Illinois at Chicago, Full-time Lecturer, Department of English, Fall 2009-2014
• English 490: Advanced Poetry Writing
• English 240: Introduction to Literary Study and Critical Methods
• English 109: American Culture and Literature
• English 160 and 161: Academic Writing I & II - Designed several courses in both blended (online and traditional mix) and traditional format, including:
- "What Poetry Can Teach Us"
- "Writing and Participatory Art"
- "Seeing the World through the Artist's Eye: Participatory Art and the Changing Role of the Spectator"
- "Writing, Community, and Social Change"
Collin College, Full-time Core Professor (Tenure-track equivalent), Department of English, 2005-2008
• English 2308: Creative Writing - Creating Poetry
• English 2343: Introduction to Literature - Poetry and Drama
• English 2333: World Literature I (to 1650)
• English 2332: World Literature II (1650-present)
• English 2328: American Literature II (1865-Present)
• English 1302/Humanities 1301: Learning Community Class (a co-taught, dual-credit class): “Painters and Poets/Writers and Ruins”
• English 1302 Composition/Rhetoric II
• English 1301 Composition/Rhetoric I
University of Texas at Dallas, Teaching Fellow, 2000-2005
• Creative Writing 3351: Creating Poetry
• Literature 3314: Introduction to Modern and Contemporary Poetry
• Literature 2341: Literary Analysis
• Literature 3304: Advanced Composition
• Rhetoric 1302: Composition/Rhetoric (incorporated the use of technology in the classroom, including LinguaMoo and The Learning Record Online).
• Academic Bridge Program (ABP) Instructor: Program for students who graduate from Dallas-area urban high schools with high class rankings but with limited university preparation
Writing Center Instructor, Collin College, 2003-2005
• Provided tutoring for students and helped expand the hours and scope of the writing center
Primary School Classroom Teacher, London Borough of Barnet, England, 1992-1999
• Taught the nine areas of the British National Curriculum with a primary specialty in English
• Personal and Social Health Education Coordinator, 1994-1999
• School Pianist, 1995-1999
Readings & Lectures
• Featured Reader, Illinois State Poetry Society, Brewed Awakening Reading Series, Nov 2015
• Poetry Foundation, Open Door Series, March 2015
• Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, Aug 2014
• Gold Wake Press Poets, AWP, Seattle, Feb 2014
• Guest on the local TV program "Poetry Today," Highland Park, IL, Feb 2014
• Featured Reader: Highland Park Poetry Association, Sept 2013
• Introductory Speaker: “An evening with Marge Piercy and Ira Wood,” Poetry Foundation: April 2013
• Reader with Gold Wake Press Poets, Trident Book Store, AWP Off-site Reading, March 2013
• Featured Reader with Debra Bruce: Women & Children First, Feb 2013
• Featured Reader: PWR Series, SUNY-Stony Brook, Oct 2012
• Featured Reader: Molly Mallone’s Literary Reading Series, Oct 2012
• Reader: Creative Writing Panel, FYWP Opening Conference, UIC, Fall 2010, 2011, and 2012
• Featured Reader: Art and Consumer Culture, Woman Made Gallery, June 2012
• Featured Reader: Rhino Reads Series, Bros K, Chicago, April 2012
• Featured Reader: Graduate Student Association, University of Texas at Dallas, April 2012
• Featured Reader and Lecturer: "Scholarly Research and Life" Series, Collin College, Texas, April 2012
• Featured Reader: The Writers' Garrett, National Poetry Month Reading, Dallas, April 2012
• Featured Reader: The Cafe, Chicago, Fall 2011
• Reader: Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, Student Night, Henri Cole Advanced Poetry Workshop, Summer 2011
• Reader: Poetry Reading with Marge Piercy, Poetry Intensive, Wellfleet, Summer 2010
• Featured Reader: Annual Showcase Reading of Creative Work by faculty, Collin College, 2005-2008
• Panel Moderator: “Plano Book Festival,” 2005
• Featured Reader: Dan Bros Coffee House, 2005
• Invited Lecture/Presentation: “Improving College Level Writing,” Writing Workshop: Collin College, 2005
• Invited Lecture/Presentation: “PhD Qualifying Exams: A Survival Guide,” Graduate Student Association, UT-D, 2005
• Introductory Speaker: Poetry Workshop Sessions, Plano Book Festival, 2005
• Invited Interview with UTD Mercury Reporter Farraz Khan (as editor of Sojourn: A literary Journal of the Arts). The Mercury Newspaper, Vol. XXIV, No. 17, Nov 2004
• Poetry Reading, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review. Fall/winter release, Austin, Texas, 2002
• Poetry Reading, Sean Christopher Britton Memorial Award, Texas Association of Creative Writing Teachers Annual Conference. Lamar University, 2002
Workshops & Judgeships
• Judge, Illinois Emerging Poets Competition, 2013, 2014, 2015
• Poetry and Patron Workshop Series (co-taught with Debra Bruce), Aug 2015
• Poetry Workshop Leader, "Developing Voice and Dialogue in the Poetic Form," Northwest Cultural Council, Sept 2014
• Judge, Poetry Out Loud, Regional Competition, Poetry Foundation, 2012, 2013, 2014
• Poetry Workshop Leader, "On Becoming a Poet," Chicago Public Library, CityVerse Workshop Series, Fall 2013
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Making Music: Orchestrating Sound and Sense in a Poem,” Northwest Cultural Council, June 2013
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Organizing and Editing a Collection,” Rhino Poetry Forum Workshops, Evanston Public Library, May 2012
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Personal Training for Poets: Mapping 10,000 Hours of Poetry,” Poetry Fest 2012, Harold Washington Library Center, Chicago Public Library, April, 2012
• Poetry Workshop Leader, “Imagery: No Ideas but in Things,” Northwest Cultural Council (NWCC), Palatine, Feb 2012
• Judge, Poetry Prize, Graduate Conference at the University of North Texas, 2007
• Poetry Workshop Leader, Dallas Public Libraries, 2006
• Judge, Dallas Public Library Poetry Contest, 2006
• Judge, Plano Independent School District’s “Reflections Literature Contest,” 2006
• Judge, Sigler Dallas Public School Poetry Contest, 2005
• Workshop leader for a series of programs, including: “Effective Parenting,” “Managing Children’s Behavior,” “The Prevention and handling of bullying,” and “Children’s self-esteem,” Woodcroft, London Borough of Barnet, 1995-99
Conferences & Lectures
• Panelist: “Write on Your Own Time: Scholarship and Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Members," MLA 2014
• Presenter: “’Between the Scylla and The Charybdis”: Navigating the Dialogic Waters in Julia Alvarez’s “The Other Side/El Otro Lado.” UIC English Department Symposium, Spring 2013
• Panelist: “Strategies for Teaching McCarthy’s The Road as Poem, Eco-Dystopia, and Zombie Survival Guide.” American Literature Association Symposium on American Fiction. New Orleans, October 2012
• Chair: Transnational American Literature, American Literature Association Panel, May 2011
• Presenter: “’Between the Scylla and The Charybdis”: Navigating the Cultural Waters in Julia Alvarez’s “The Other Side/El Otro Lado.” American Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference, New Orleans, 2010
• Presenter: “Curating Memories: Incremental Reappropriations and Cultural Identity in Louise Erdrich’s ‘The Seven Sleepers.’” NeMLA Conference, Buffalo, New York, 2008
• Presenter: “Ambivalence, Bilingualism, and Orality in the poetry of Julia Alvarez.” Faculty Conference, Plano, Texas, 2007
• Presenter: “The New Realm of War: Disruptive Dialogism and Violence in Contemporary American Women’s Poetry.” Popular Culture Association/American Studies Association Conference, Boston, 2007
• Presenter: “Words as Weapons: Dialogism and Eros in the Poetry of Adrienne Rich, Marilyn Hacker, and Susan Mitchell.” Poetry and Politics Conference, University of Stirling, Scotland, 2006
• Panel Speaker, “Auteur Film Series: Babette,” Collin College, 2006
• Presenter: “Audience and Human Intimacy: The Theatre of Disruptive Dialogics in Contemporary American Women’s Poetry.” Panel on Audience and Human Intimacy. American Comparative Literature Association, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, 2006
• Presenter: “An Editor’s Perspective: From the Voice Inside to the Audience Outside: The Challenges of Gaining Audience for Prison Initiative Writers.” (After publishing a series of Prison Initiative poems as editor of Sojourn.) Panel on “Contemporary American Prison Writing.” Popular Culture Association/American Studies Association Conference, San Diego, California, 2005
• Guest Lecturer: “Emily Dickinson and Innovation,” Collin College, 2004
• Presenter: “The Magic Mirror of Sexton’s Transformations: The Inadvertent Reshaping of the Fairy Tale Female.” Women in Literature panel: “Postmodern Heroines: The Fairy Tale in 20th century Literature and Film.” M/MLA, St. Louis, Missouri, 2004
• Presenter: “The Usurping of Pecola Breedlove: Re-examining the Spiritual Scaffolding of Community and Self in Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye.” Southern Writers Southern Writing, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi, 2003
• Presenter: “Sea Gardens: a story in eight prose poems.” The Status of Contemporary American Poetry and Literature Conference, Baylor University, Texas, 2003
• Presenter: “Anti-Bullying: Strategies for Success,” a program for staff and faculty, Woodcroft, London Borough of Barnet, 1999
Letters of reference and full dossier available from:
Mickey Choate, Associate Director
UT-Dallas Career Center
P.O. Box 830688, MC16
Richardson, TX 75083-0688
Office: 972.883.4270
Email: mickey.choate@utdallas.edu
