January O'Neil

Poet

Beverly, MA
Massachusetts US
Email: 
jgill27494@aol.com
Website: 
www.januarygilloneil.com/
Twitter/X: 
@https://twitter.com/januaryoneil

Author's Bio

January Gill O’Neil is a professor at Salem State University and the author of Glitter Road (2024), Rewilding (2018), Misery Islands (2014), and Underlife (2009), all published by CavanKerry Press. Glitter Road won the 2024 Poetry by the Sea Best Book Award and the Julia Ward Howe Prize, and is a finalist for multiple awards including the Massachusetts Book Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Poetry, The Nation, and American Poetry Review. She served as executive director of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival (2012–2018) and was the 2019–2020 John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. O’Neil chairs the AWP Board of Directors and teaches graduate poetry writing in the summer program at Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English.

Education: 
New York University MFA
Writers Retreats: 
Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference
Chautauqua Writers’ Festival
Fine Arts Work Center Summer Workshop Program
Longleaf Writers Conference

Publications & Prizes

Books:
Glitter Road (CavanKerry Press, 2024)
,
Rewilding (CavanKerry Press, 2018)
,
Misery Islands (CavanKerry Press, 2014)
,
Underlife (CavanKerry Press, 2009)
Journals:
Adroit Journal
,
American Poetry Review
,
Callaloo
,
Can We Have Our Ball Back
,
The Common
,
Crab Creek Review
,
Crab Orchard Review
,
Drunken Boat
,
Field
,
Green Mountains Review
,
Harvard Review
,
Literal Latte
,
Literary Mama
,
Mom Egg Review
,
New England Review
,
North American Review
,
Ouroboros Review
,
Paterson Literary Review
,
Ploughshares
,
Poetry Magazine
,
Prairie Schooner
,
Rattle
,
Seattle Review
,
Shenandoah
,
Sierra
,
Sou'wester
,
Stuff Magazine
,
TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics
,
The Nation
Prizes won: 

January Gill O'Neil is the author of Glitter Road (2024), winner of the 2024 Poetry by the Sea Best Book Award and the Julia Ward Howe Prize in poetry from the Boston Authors Club. Glitter Road is also a finalist for the New England Book Award, the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award, the Julie Suk Award, the Massachusetts Book Award, and the Library of Virginia's 2025 Virginia Literary Awards. Her poem "At the Rededication of the Emmett Till Memorial" won the 2022 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award. O'Neil is a recipient of fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Cave Canem, and the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund, and was the 2019–2020 John and Renée Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. She is also the author of Rewilding (2018), Misery Islands (2014), and Underlife (2009), all published by CavanKerry Press.

 

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More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
African American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Norfolk, VA
Virginia
Raised in: 
Norfolk, VA
Virginia
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Aug 10, 2025