Ava Leavell Haymon

Poet

Baton Rouge, LA
Louisiana US

Author's Bio

Ava Leavell Haymon is the Poet Laureate of Louisiana (2013-2015) and author of four collections of poetry, including Eldest Daughter, Why the House Is Made of Gingerbread, Kitchen Heat and The Strict Economy of Fire, along with five chapbooks. She is the editor of the forthcoming Louisiana State University Press, Barataria Poetry Series (Spring 2014) and has been awarded the Louisiana Literature Prize for poetry in 2003, the L.E. Phillabaum Poetry Award for 2010, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters 2011 Award in Poetry and has taught as an Artist in the Schools for a number of years. Her third book, Why The House Was Made Of Gingerbread, was chosen as one of the top ten books of 2010 by Women’s Voices for Change. Ava’s work has appeared in Northwest Review, Prairie Schooner, Poetry, and others.
Seven of her plays have been produced by Playmakers of Baton Rouge in theaters and schools throughout Louisiana and Texas, including The Troll Girl and the Princess, The Mermaid Who Couldn't Sing, and The Quest of Jodie Nothing. She has collaborated with many different artists and in several genres: a film, dance productions, written text for artist books and text for musical composition, recently "The Gretel Songs" for Mary Carol Warwick, premiered by the Greenbriar Consort of the Houston Symphony.

Author photo by David Humphreys

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Eldest Daughter (Louisiana State University Press, 2013)
,
Why the House Is Made of Gingerbread (Louisiana State University Press, 2010)
,
Kitchen Heat (Louisiana State University Press, 2006)
,
The Strict Economy of Fire (Louisiana State University Press, 2002)
Chapbooks:
Staving Off Rapture (Flume Press, 1998)
,
Why the Groundhog Fears Her Shadow (March Street Press, 1998)
Prizes won: 

L.E. Phillabaum Poetry Prize for 2010.
Louisiana Literature Prize for 2003.

Personal Favorites

What I'm reading now: 
Next Life by Rae Armantrout, As I Lay Dying by Faulkner, Authors of the Impossible by Jeffrey John Kripal, Difficult Beauties by Janet Wondra, Traveling Light by Linda Pastan

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
White
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Greenville
Raised in: 
Tyler, TX
Texas
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Aug 27, 2013