Shira Dentz

Im a writer, educator, instructional designer, and graphic artist. Among my professional and literary passions is exploring the intersections of text and image, and have a special interest in literature of trauma and witness. My attention to the collaborations possible between text, sound, image, and audience also informs my work as an instructiona... l designer. As an educator, I have 15+ years of experience teaching diverse students in face-to-face, online, and blended learning formats in a wide range of settings including high school, public and private colleges, an honors college, community writing arts centers, private groups, and individual consultations. I believe writers participate in shaping culture through telling stories, and courses I teach include creative writing as a social art practice and environmental writing. I also interact with fields such as narrative medicine and transformative language arts that link writing with wellness. Research studies show that exposure to the arts enhances ones sense of well-being, academic performance, and much more. Im the author of five books, including SISYPHUSINA (PANK, 2020), winner of the Eugene Paul Nassar Poetry Prize 2021, and how do i net thee (Salmon Poetry, 2018), a National Poetry Series Finalist, and two chapbooks. My poetry, prose, and visual and cross-genre writing appear widely in venues such as Poetry, American Poetry Review, Iowa Review, Gulf Coast, New American Writing, Brooklyn Rail, Lana Turner, Academy of American Poem-a-Day Series (Poets.org), and NPRs Artists Reflect on 9/11. Im the recipient of awards including an Academy of American Poets Award, Poetry Society of Americas Cecil Hemley Award, and Poetry Society of Americas Lyric Poem Award. My work has been supported by fellowships and residencies including from the Tanner Center for the Humanities and MacDowell Arts Colony. A graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, I hold a doctorate in Creative Writing and Literature from the University of Utah. Ive lived in the Northeast, Midwest, ...Read More