Kimberly Ann Priest

Poet

Author's Bio

Kimberly Ann Priest is a neurodivergent writer and the author of Slaughter the One Bird (Sundress Publications 2021), finalist for the American Best Book Awards, and the chapbooks The Optimist Shelters in Place (Small Harbor Press 2022), Parrot Flower (Glass Poetry Press, 2021), and still life (PANK 2020), with books forthcoming from Agape Editions, Unsolicited Press, and Texas Review Press. As a survivor of gendered violence and an active outdoorswoman, her writing and scholarly interests are deeply focused on gender-based trauma, disability, displacement, conservation, and ecology, and she has participated in initiatives to increase awareness concerning sexual assault, survivorship, and healing through nature and artistic expression. She has received residencies from Monson Arts, Firefly Farms, and Proximity Writer's House and served as an editorial intern for Sundress Publications and Black Earth Institute as well as an associate editor for six years with the Nimrod International Journal of Prose and Poetry. Winner of the 2019 Heartland Poetry Prize, her work has appeared in literary journals such as North Dakota QuarterlySalamanderRHINOBeloit Poetry Journal, and The Birmingham Poetry Review. Currently, an assistant professor of first-year writing at Michigan State University, Kimberly is a member of the Association of Writers and Publishers, Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, and the National Association for Poetry Therapy. She is the poetry editor for West Trade Review and lives, with her husband, in Maine. Pronouns: she / her

Publications & Prizes

Book:
Slaughter the One Bird (Sundress Publications, 2021)
Chapbooks:
The Optimist Shelters in Place (Small Harbor Publishing, 2022)
,
Parrot Flower (Glass Poetry Press, 2020)
,
still life (PANK, 2020)
Prizes won: 
  • Slaughter the One Bird was a finalist in the 2021 American Best Book Awards for contemporary poetry &  nature poetry.
  • Her poem "Record of Wrongs" was a contest winner for the Women Under Scrutiny: An Anthology of Truths, Essay, Poems, Stories, and Art anthology from Brooklyn Girls Books.
  • Her poem “Practice” was a winner of the 2019 Heartland Poetry Prize for the 2019 New Poetry from the Midwest Anthology from New American Press.

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Kimiko Hahn, Jehanne Dubrow, Kelli Russell Agodon, Pascale Petit, Mary Ruefle, Dorianne Laux, Denise Levertov, Sharon Olds, Gregory Orr, Claudia Emerson, Kim Addonizio, Rebecca Lindenberg, Pablo Neruda, Yehuda Amichai, Robinson Jeffers, John Donne, Emily Dickinson, Robert & Elizabeth Browning, Gerard Manly Hopkins, Sylvia Plath, John Steinbeck, James Baldwin, Robin Kimmerer, Barbara Kingsolver, Edward Abbey, Amy Tan, Isabel Allende, Rilla Askew, Cheryl Strayed, Kyoko Mori, Patti Smith, Elie Wiesel

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
American
Prefers to work with: 
Children, Illness/Wellness, Mental Health, Naturalists/Environmentalists, Schools, Teachers, Teenagers, Women
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Grand Rapids, MI
Michigan
Raised in: 
L'Anse, MI
Michigan
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Sep 01, 2023