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Joshua Mehigan
 
E-mail: jmehigan@earthlink.net
Education
• MFA, Creative Writing (Poetry), Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, Sept. 1992–May 1994.
• BA, Philosophy, Purchase College, Purchase, NY, Sept. 1987–May 1991.
Honors
  For The Optimist
• Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Poetry. Los Angeles Times, Apr. 2005.
• Big Ten University Press Pick. ForeWord, Jan. 2005.
• Winner, Hollis Summers Prize. Ohio Univ. Press, Feb. 2004.
 
  General
• Humanities Fellow. Graduate Center, City University of New York, 2009.
• Winner, Pushcart Prize. Pushcart Press, July 2005.
• Walter E. Dakin Fellow. Sewanee Writers’ Conference, July 2005.
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Winner, Dogwood Poetry Prize. Dogwood, Feb. 2004.
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Tennessee Williams Scholar. Sewanee Writers’ Conference, July 2000.

Publications
  Book
• The Optimist. Athens: Ohio Univ. Press, 2004. Second printing, 2005.
  Chapbook
• Confusing Weather. West Chester: Black Cat Press, 1998.
  Poems in Anthologies (Selected)
• Bright Wings. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
• Swallow Anthology of New American Poets. Athens: Swallow Press/Ohio Univ. Press, 2009.
• Poetry: A Pocket Anthology. New York: Longman (Penguin Academics Series), 2007.
• Poetry Calendar. Bertem, Belgium: Alhambra, 2006–2010.
• Writing Metrical Poems. Cincinnati: Writers Digest, 2006.
• Pushcart Prize XXX: Best of the Small Presses. Wainscott: Pushcart Press, 2006.
  Poems in Periodicals (Selected)
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Poems in Poetry, New York Times, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Poetry Daily, Ploughshares, New York Sun, and many other periodicals. Poems in Akzente, Zeichen & Wunder, and Krachkultur, German translation by Christophe Fricker. Verse translations in Poetry, Cortland Review, and Failbetter.
  Essays and Articles (Selected)
• “The Grand Hotel.” A review of two new books. Poetry, January 2010.
• “Manifesto.” Poetry, Feb. 2009.
• “Curious Specimens: An Exchange,” with Cate Marvin. A review of Daniel Anderson’s Drunk in Sunlight and Alice Oswald’s Spacecraft Voyager I: New and Selected Poems. Poetry, May 2008.
• “Briefe von Edgar Bowers,” tr. Christophe Fricker. Adapted from “Introduction to Poetry,” paper presented at the Edgar Bowers Conference and Exhibition, UCLA, Apr. 2003. Castrum Peregrini, 2007.
• “On Poem 50 from Tennyson’s In Memoriam.” National Poetry Month “Poet’s Pick,” a subscriber e-mailing. Poetry Daily, 21 Apr. 2005.
• “The Interior of a Heron’s Egg: Michael Donaghy, 1954–2004.” New Criterion, Apr. 2005.
• Numerous Reviews. The Burning Deck. WRVG-FM, Georgetown, KY, 2000–2001.
Teaching Experience
• Visiting Writer. Centre College, Danville, KY, Apr. 2007.
• Seminar Instructor, The Anarchist’s Guide to Poetic Technique. Stonecoast Winter Writers’ Conference, Univ. of Southern Maine, Portland, ME, Jan. 2007.
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Adjunct Lecturer, English. Bronx Community College, Bronx, NY, Sept.–Dec. 2003.

• Teacher, English. Bais Medrash and Yeshiva Gedola of Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, NY, Sept. 2002–June 2003.
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Graduate Teaching Assistant, Poetry. Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, Sept. 1993–May 1994.

  Volunteer
• Teacher and Tutor, ESL and English. Bellevue/NYU Center for Survivors of Torture, New York, NY, Sept. 2002–Nov. 2004.
• Teacher, GED English. Morningside Heights Educational Alliance, New York, NY, May–Sept. 1995.
 
Additional
Activity
• Reader, Modern Poets: Futurism and the New Manifesto. Museum of Modern Art. Reading of a prose piece, “Manifesto,” for an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of “The Futurist Manifesto.” MoMA and the Poetry Foundation, New York, NY, Feb. 2009.
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Op-ed Contributor, “The Measure of Democracy.” Publication of “The Polling Place,” a poem, as part of an election feature. New York Times, New York, NY, Nov. 5, 2008.
• Presenter, “On the Construction of Philip Larkin’s ‘Church Going.’ ” The Poetry of Philip Larkin, West Chester Univ. Poetry Conference, West Chester Univ., West Chester, PA, June 2008.
• Interview Subject, Poets’ Café, Radio Pacifica KPFK 90.7 FM, Los Angeles, CA, Aug. 2005 and Jan. 2006.
• Panelist, Poetry: The Magic of Words, Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Los Angeles, CA, Apr. 2005.
  Panelist, The Poetry of Michael Donaghy. West Chester Univ. Poetry Conference, West Chester Univ., West Chester, PA, June 2004.
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Presenter, “Introduction to Poetry.” The Life and Poetry of Edgar Bowers, How Shall a Generation Know Its Story: The Edgar Bowers Conference and Exhibition, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, Apr. 2003.
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Editor, Poets & Writers Online, Poets & Writers, Inc., New York, NY, Aug. 1998–Dec. 2001.
• Content Consultant, Longman’s English Literature Pages. Web site on authors ranging from Shakespeare to August Wilson. Pearson Education, New York, NY, March 1998–Sept. 1999.
• Featured Reader, New York Public Library, MoMA, Los Angeles Festival of Books, KPFK Los Angeles, Barnes and Noble stores, Ohio State Univ., NYU Writers’ House, Sarah Lawrence College, C.W. Post, Sewanee Writers’ Conference, CCNY, Bowery Poetry Club, and many other venues.
 
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