Ellen Birkett Morris

Poet, Fiction Writer

Louisville, KY
Kentucky US

Author's Bio

Ellen Birkett Morris’s novel Beware the Tall Grass is the winner of the Donald L. Jordan Award for Literary Excellence, judged by Lan Samantha Chang, and will be published in March 2024 by CSU Press and is available for preorder now. She is the author of Lost Girls: Short Stories, winner of the Pencraft Award and finalist for the Clara Johnson, IAN and Best Book awards. Her fiction has appeared in Shenandoah, Antioch Review, Notre Dame Review, and South Carolina Review, among other journals. She is a winner of the Bevel Summers Prize for short fiction. Morris is a recipient of an Al Smith Fellowship for her fiction from the Kentucky Arts Council.

Morris is also the author of Abide and Surrender, poetry chapbooks. Her poetry has appeared in The Clackamas Literary Review, Juked, Gastronomica, and Inscape, among other journals and in eight anthologies.  Morris won top prize in the 2008 Binnacle Ultra-Short Edition and was a finalist for the 2019 and 2020 Rita Dove Poetry Prize. Her poem “Abide” was featured on NPR’s A Way with Words. Her essays have appeared in Newsweek, AARP’s The Ethel, Oh Reader magazine, and on National Public Radio.

Morris holds an MFA in creative writing from Queens University-Charlotte. She attended the Kentucky Women Writers Conference on fellowship and teaches creative writing at The Virginia Piper Center at ASU in Tempe, Arizona and The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning in Lexington, Kentucky. Morris has spoken and taught at the 2018 Antioch Writers Workshop, 2019 Kentucky Women Writers Conference, 2022 Writer’s Block Festival and 2022 Louisville Book Festival.

Writers Retreats: 

Publications & Prizes

Fiction

Anthologies:
Hidden Kitchens (Rodale, 2006)
,
Nesting: Its a Chick Thing (Workman Publishing, 2004)
,
The Writing Group Book (Chicago Review Press, 2003)
Book:
Lost Girls: Short Stories (TouchPoint Press, 2020)
Journals:
Alimentum
, ,
Centrifugal Eye
,
Clapboard House
, ,
Heartland Review
,
Mindprints
,
NANO Fiction
,
Nebo
,
Notre Dame Review
,
Paradigm
, ,
Plays
,
Ruminate
,
Salt River Review
, ,
Shenandoah
,
Sliver of Stone
,
Sou'wester
, ,
The Rambler
,
Tishman Review
,
Turtle Quarterly
,
Upstreet

Poetry

Anthology:
Motif 4: Seeking Its Own Level (MotesBooks, 2015)
Book:
Surrender (Finishing Line Press, 2012)
Journals: ,
Binnacle
, ,
Gastronomica
,
Qarrtsiluni
,
Prizes won: 

Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence, Beware the Tall Grass, 2023. 

Pencraft Prize, Short Stories, Lost Girls, 2021. 

Rita Dove Potery Prize, Finalist, 2019.

Bevel Summers Prize, Shenandoah, 2015.

Baltic Writing Residency Kentucky Writers Fellowship, Finalist, 2015.

Kentucky Women Writers Conference, Postgraduate Scholarship, 2013.

Kentucky Arts Council, Individual Artist Professional Development Grants, 2009, 2006, 2001.

Elizabeth George Foundation Grant, 2008.    

The Binnacle, Top Poetry Prize, 2008.

Heideman Award (ten-minute plays), Finalist, 2008. 

Glimmer Train Family Matters Competition, Finalist, 2007.

Betty Gabehart Prize for Fiction, Kentucky Women Writers Conference, 2005.

The Pedestal Magazine Readers’ Awards, Honorable Mention, Fiction, 2005.

Artist Enrichment Grant, Kentucky Foundation for Women, 2002.  

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Strout, O'Farrell, Hemingway, Kingsolver, Mason, Chehkov
What I'm reading now: 
Tom Lake by Ann Patchett, Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn, The Punishment She Deserves by Elizabeth George, Meander Spiral and Explode by Jane Allison

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American, Buddhist, Feminist
Prefers to work with: 
Adults, Seniors
Born in: 
Louisville, KY
Kentucky
Raised in: 
Louisville, KY
Kentucky
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Dec 13, 2023