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Home > Phill Provance

Phill Provance [1]

Listed as: 
Poet, Creative Nonfiction Writer
Public address: 
Woodstock, IL
Illinois US
Email: 
phill.provance@gmail.com
Bio: 

The author of A Plan in Case of Morning (Vine Leaves Press 2020), A Brief History of Woodbridge, New Jersey (The History Press 2019), and Post Cards of McHenry County, Illinois (Arcadia 2021), Phill Provance formerly served as Executive Editor at MediaTier Ltd. and is Editor at Large for Poets at Work and honorary Associate Editor for Danse Macabre online literary journal, as well as author of the comic strip "The Adventures of Ace Hoyle" (MediaTier Ltd. 2008-2010). His journalism, poetry and prose have appeared in or are forthcoming from The Baltimore Sun, InQuest Gamer magazine, Wizard World Online, The Crab Creek Review, Third Wednesday, Orbis, Word Riot, decomP, and many others. In 2017 alone, his poem "The Stenographers Union" was selected by Diane Seuss as one of two finalists for the Crab Creek Review Prize, his "Of Beauty & Things" was selected by Bill Brown as one of three Honorable Mention finalists for the Ron Rash Award, his "Hours," "My Old Man" and "Given the Day" were awarded the Sheila-na-gig Quarterly Prize, his "Why the Coyote Doesn't Just Order Chinese" placed in the Shadow Award, and his "Triangle" was shortlisted for the Fortnight Prize. More recently, his "Triangle" was selected by Maurice Manning as a Finalist for the 2018 Ron Rash Award, and his "Gen Y Love Poem" was selected as a Finalist by Arisa White for the 2018 Jane Underwood Prize. His first poetry chapbook, "The Day the Sun Rolled Out of the Sky," was published by Cy Gist Press in December 2010 and received three Pushcart nominations and one nomination each for the Best of the Web and Best of the Net for its contents from the magazines in which these poems previously appeared, and several of his poems have also been translated into Vietnamese by Vietnamese New Formalist Khe Iem. He is also a regular presenter at academic conferences on the topics of Appalachian Literature and Formalism, and his critical essay "Warring with Whitmania: 'Second Wave New Formalism' as a Theoretically and Practically Coherent Curative to Free Verse Absolutism" was anthologized in The Poetic Legacy of Whitman, Williams, and Ginsberg (PCCC 2018). He previously studied English literature at Oxford University and Bethany College and journalism at NYU and holds an MFA in Poetry and Fiction from WV Wesleyan College. A native Appalachian born and raised in Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, he now lives near Chicago, Illinois, and, when not writing, enjoys spending time with his son, Ledger.

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
In which languages are you fluent?: 
English
French
German
Latin
Favorite authors: 
Bukowski, Bly, Hughes, Neruda, Auden, Rilke, Plath, Bishop, Roethke, Tate, Simic, Follain
Twitter/X: 
https://twitter.com/PhillProvance
Born in: 
Mt. Pleasant, PA
Pennsylvania
Raised in: 
Connellsville, PA
Pennsylvania
Website: 
https://phillprovance.com [2]
Prizes won: 

2020 recipient of grants from Poets & Writers, Artist Relief (Poetry Foundation, Ford Foundation, Mellon Foundation etal.), PEN America and the Authors League; "Gen Y Love Poem" (Third Wednesday 2019) selected by Arisa White as a Finalist for the Writing Salon's 2018 Jane Underwood Prize (2019) and selected by Mojdeh Stoakley as a finalist for the Atrocious Poets' 2019 One City One Poet Gwendolyn Brooks Prize; "Triangle" selected by Maurice Manning as a Finalist for the Broad River Review's 2018 Rash Award (2019); "Given the Day" nominated by Sheila-na-Gig for the 2018 Best of the Net Award (2018); "Of Beauty & Things" selected by Bill Brown as a an Honorable Mention Finalist for the Broad River Review's 2017 Rash Award (2018); "The Stenographers Union" selected as a finalist by Diane Seuss for the Crab Creek Review's Crab Creek Review Prize (2017); "Why the Coyote Doesn't Just Order Chinese" placed in the top 10 of Molotov Cocktail's Shadow Award (2017); "Triangle" shortlisted for the fourth Fortnight Prize by Eyewear Publishing (2017); "Hours," "My Old Man" and "Given the Day" awarded the Sheila-na-gig Online Quarterly Prize (2017); Pushcart nomination by Asian Cha for "St. Petersburg Has Many Churches" (2011); Pushcart nomination by Cy Gist Press for "Sir Roger Penrose Finds God" (2011); Pushcart nomination by Flamma Bombo for "I Have Been an Empty Church" (2011); Best of the Web nomination by Asian Cha for "St. Petersburg Has Many Churches" (2011); Best of the Net nomination by Asian Cha for "St. Petersburg Has Many Churches" (2011)

Education: 
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Agent/Agency name: 
Lukas Ortiz
What I'm reading now: 
Selected Poems by John Ashbery
Satan Says by Sharon Olds
Olives by A.E. Stallings
Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Identifies as: 
Appalachian
British
Celtic American
Christian
Disabled
English American
European American
French
Irish American
Italian American
Scotch-Irish American
White
Prefers to work with: 
Adults
At Risk Youth
Children
Disability
Homelessness
Illness/Wellness
LGBTQ
Mental Health
Naturalists/Environmentalists
Seniors
Teachers
Teenagers
Veterans

Source URL:https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/phill_provance

Links
[1] https://www.pw.org/directory/writers/phill_provance [2] https://phillprovance.com