Ann Townsend

Ann Townsend (born December 5, 1962) is an American poet and essayist. She is the co-founder of VIDA: Women in the Literary Arts and a professor of English and director of the creative writing at Denison University,{{Cite web|title=Ann Townsend|url=https://denison.edu/people/ann-townsend|access-date=2021-08-12|website=Denison University|date=June 1992 |language=en}} She has published three original poetry collections and co-edited a collection of lyric poems.

Early life

Townsend was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She received her B.A. at Denison University in 1985. Townsend attended Ohio State University, where she received an M.A. and Ph.D.

Career

Since 1992 Townsend has taught modern and contemporary poetry, creative writing, and literary translation at Denison University.{{Cite web|url=https://denison.edu/people/ann-townsend|title=Ann Townsend|website=Denison University|date=June 1992 |language=en|access-date=February 27, 2019}} She has also taught in the low-residency MFA program at Carlow University.

Her poetry and essays have appeared in such magazines as Poetry, The American Poetry Review, The Paris Review, and The Nation, among others. She has received fellowships from the Lannan Foundation,{{Cite web|url=https://lannan.org/bios/ann-townsend|title=Ann Townsend|website=Lannan Foundation|language=en|access-date=February 27, 2019}} The National Endowment for the Arts, and the Ohio Arts Council, and is a winner of the Discovery Prize from The Nation. Her poems have been anthologized in American Poetry: The Next Generation (2000), The Bread Loaf Anthology of New American Poets (2000), The Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women (2001), and Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (2006).{{Cite web|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/ann-townsend|title=Ann Townsend|date=February 27, 2019|website=Poetry Foundation|language=en|access-date=February 27, 2019}}

Her poetry collections include Dime Store Erotics (1998), The Coronary Garden (2005),{{Cite web|url=http://www.sarabandebooks.org/all-titles/the-coronary-garden-ann-townsend|title=The Coronary Garden, Ann Townsend|website=Sarabande|language=en-US|access-date=February 27, 2019}} and Dear Delinquent (2019).{{Cite web|url=http://www.sarabandebooks.org/titles-20192039/dear-delinquent-ann-townsend|title=Dear Delinquent, Ann Townsend|website=Sarabande|language=en-US|access-date=February 27, 2019}} She is the co-editor, with David Baker, of the collection Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poetry (2007).{{Cite web|url=https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/radiant-lyre|title=Radiant Lyre {{!}} Graywolf Press|website=graywolfpress.org|access-date=February 27, 2019}}

In August 2009, Townsend, along with notable American poets Erin Belieu and Cate Marvin, cofounded the national feminist organization VIDA: Women In Literary Arts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vidaweb.org/faq/|title=FAQ|date=May 20, 2012|website=VIDA: Women in Literary Arts|language=en-US|access-date=February 27, 2019}} Since its founding, VIDA has published an annual report on the status of women writers by tabulating and comparing rates of publication between male and female authors. The VIDA survey, known as the VIDA Count, is the first of its kind and highlights the ways in which gender bias affects American literary publishing. In 2016, Townsend, Belieu and Marvin were the recipients of the Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Prize,{{Cite web|url=https://www.pw.org/about-us/writers_writers_award_and_editors_award|title=Writers for Writers Award, Editor's Award|date=February 12, 2008|website=Poets & Writers|language=en|access-date=February 27, 2019}} given in recognition of their work on behalf of the larger literary community.

Awards and honors

The Discovery/The Nation Prize. 1994.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thenation.com/article/discoverythe-nation-07-prizewinners/|title=Discovery/The Nation '07 Prizewinners|last=Nation|first=The|date=May 3, 2007|access-date=February 27, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0027-8378|archive-date=August 20, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150820190705/http://www.thenation.com/article/discoverythe-nation-07-prizewinners/|url-status=dead}}
Individual Artists Fellowship, The Ohio Arts Council. 1996.
Individual Artists Fellowship, The National Endowment for the Arts. 2004
Lannan Foundation Residency Fellowship. 2014.
Barnes and Noble Writers for Writers Prize. 2016.

Works

= Collections of poetry =

Dime Store Erotics. Silverfish Review Press. 1998. {{ISBN|978-1878851116}}
The Coronary Garden. Sarabande Books. 2005. {{ISBN|978-1932511093}}
Dear Delinquent. Sarabande Books. 2019. {{ISBN|978-1946448347}}

= Edited collection =

Radiant Lyre: Essays on Lyric Poems (with David Baker). Graywolf Press. 2007. {{ISBN|978-1555974602}}

= Works anthologized =

The Pushcart Prize XX. 1996. {{ISBN|978-0916366636}}
American Poetry: The Next Generation. 2000. {{ISBN|978-0887483431}}
The Bread Loaf Anthology of New American Poets. 2000. {{ISBN|978-0874519648}}
The Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women. 2001. {{ISBN|978-0231119634}}
The Eye of the Poet: Six Views of the Art and Craft of Poetry. 2002. {{ISBN|978-0195132557|}}
Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century. 2006. {{ISBN|978-1932511291}}
The Book of Irish American Poetry from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. 2007 {{ISBN|978-0268042301|}}