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Jennifer Burd: Writer and Teaching Artist Jennifer's new book, Fringe, is due for release on May 12, 2023! The book is available for presale order from January 9 – March 17, 2023. Royalties from presale orders of Fringe will be donated to Avalon Housing in Ann Arbor, a nonprofit that assists homeless and low-income individuals with housing and other supports. See and hear a video of Jennifer reading a poem from Fringe here. Jennifer Burd has had poetry published in numerous print and online journals and anthologies. She is author of three full-length books of poetry, Fringe (due for release in May, 2023; Finishing Line Press) Days’ Late Blue (2017; Cherry Grove Collections) and Body and Echo (2010; PlainView Press), a chapbook with CD of original poems set to music by Laszlo Slomovits, Receiving the Shore (2016, Little Light Publications), and a book of creative nonfiction, Daily Bread: A Portrait of Homeless Men & Women of Lenawee County, Michigan (2009; Bottom Dog Press). She is co-author of a children's play based on Patricia Polacco's book I Can Hear the Sun, which was produced by Wild Swan Theatre of Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2015. She is also the recipient of the 2016-2017 Picture Book Mentorship Award from the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), Michigan Chapter. Burd received her MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington in Seattle. She currently teaches creative writing classes online through The Loft Literary Center (Minneapolis). Author Photo by Linda Navarro |
News
Jennifer's new book, Fringe, is due for release from Finishing Line Press on May 12, 2023. Presale orders purchased between January 9 and March 17, 2023, will help set royalties, which will be donated to Avalon Housing in Ann Arbor, a nonprofit that assists homeless and low-income individuals with housing and other supports.
Read Jennifer's poem "Lessons" at the website for Third Wednesday: A Quarterly Journal of Literary & Visual Arts
Listen to Jennifer's poem "Explaining a Calendar to the Future" at the Passager Podcast "Burning Bright" (scroll down to find it).
Jennifer's poem "Prison Literature Class" appears in A Constellation of Kisses, an anthology from Terrapin Books.
"As soon as I heard this anthology’s title I thought of the words Jimi Hendrix made famous: 'Excuse me while I kiss the sky.' These pages are constellated with all manner of kisses in all manner of patterns."
—from the Foreword by Lee Upton
Read the review of Jennifer's book of poetry, Day's Late Blue (2017), in Border Crossing. Below is a poem from the book, "If You Ask Me":
If You Ask Me
If you ask me
I'll say I dread
the coming cold
forgetting how
I'll warm myself
at the way the maple
holds fire
in its branches
but doesn't burn –
a slow flaring
until the embers fall –
and all winter
above the ashes
smoldering green
beneath the skin.
Day's Late Blue was published by Cherry Grove Collections in July 2017. It can be purchased from Jennifer (jburd@tc3net.com), from WordTech Communications, and at Amazon.com.
Past Events
Private Benefit Concert: Dancing Off the Page - Poetry Set to Music
There is an ancient tradition throughout the world, of poetry not only being read from books, but also set to music and sung. In late July, 2019, Jennifer joins Laszlo Slomovits, award-winning songwriter, composer and singer, to present a program of a great variety of poetry read and sung. This program is a private house concert to benefit the Ann Arbor nonprofit Food Gatherers. The poems range from the transcendent, spiritual lyrics of the 12th and 13th Century Sufi mystics, Rumi and Hafiz, to the classic poems of the American greats, Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson, right up to the contemporary Naomi Shihab Nye, Daniel Gerber and Linda Nemec Foster. A special feature of the event is Jennifer’s lyric poetry which Laszlo has set to music, as well as the reading of her award-winning haiku, to which Laszlo responds with various folk flutes in a spontaneous, improvised dialogue between words and music. Much of Jennifer's poetry highlights Michigan landscapes. With dynamic readings, gorgeous melodies and lively rhythms, the poems dance off the page, as Jennifer and Laszlo bring the magic of live reading and music to timeless lyrics.
Haiku for March
small-town diner
she tells us we can take
any seat we like
(tiny words, issue 20.1)
small-town diner
she tells us we can take
any seat we like
(tiny words, issue 20.1)
Publications
Books:
Day's Late Blue (Poetry; Cherry Grove Collections; 2017)
Receiving the Shore (Poetry/CD, with Laszlo Slomovits; Little Light Publications, 2016); see a review in the Ann Arbor Observer
Body & Echo (Poetry; Plain View Press, 2010)
Daily Bread: A Portrait of Homeless Men & Women of Lenawee County Michigan (Creative nonfiction; Bottom Dog Press, 2009)
Anthologies:
A Constellation of Kisses (Terrapin Books, 2019): "Prison LIterature Class"
Memories Flow in Our Veins: 40 Years of Women's Writing from CALYX (Calyx Editorial collective; 2016): "Recalculating"
The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula and New Works (Edited by Ron Riekki; Wayne State University Press, 2013): "haiku"
Poetry in Print Journals:
Jennifer has had poetry published in numerous print journals, including Beloit Poetry Journal, Southern Poetry Review, Calyx, Modern Haiku, Acorn, and Haiku Presence.
Selected Poetry Archived in Online Journals:
tinywords: haiku
"Recalculating" at Calyx
Ann Arbor Review: Issues 9 – 16
NEAT (Winter 2015): "Before and After"; "Beginning"
Glint, Issue 7, Fall 2015
Antiphon: Issue 11, Spring 2014
Joint Poetry with Laszlo Slomovits Archived in Online Journals:
Segue: Volume 12, Fall 2014
Redheaded Stepchild: (Winter 2015): "Between Light"
Articles in Online Journals:
Poets Quarterly, Summer 2015: "White Space as Metaphoric Frame"
Books:
Day's Late Blue (Poetry; Cherry Grove Collections; 2017)
Receiving the Shore (Poetry/CD, with Laszlo Slomovits; Little Light Publications, 2016); see a review in the Ann Arbor Observer
Body & Echo (Poetry; Plain View Press, 2010)
Daily Bread: A Portrait of Homeless Men & Women of Lenawee County Michigan (Creative nonfiction; Bottom Dog Press, 2009)
Anthologies:
A Constellation of Kisses (Terrapin Books, 2019): "Prison LIterature Class"
Memories Flow in Our Veins: 40 Years of Women's Writing from CALYX (Calyx Editorial collective; 2016): "Recalculating"
The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula and New Works (Edited by Ron Riekki; Wayne State University Press, 2013): "haiku"
Poetry in Print Journals:
Jennifer has had poetry published in numerous print journals, including Beloit Poetry Journal, Southern Poetry Review, Calyx, Modern Haiku, Acorn, and Haiku Presence.
Selected Poetry Archived in Online Journals:
tinywords: haiku
"Recalculating" at Calyx
Ann Arbor Review: Issues 9 – 16
NEAT (Winter 2015): "Before and After"; "Beginning"
Glint, Issue 7, Fall 2015
Antiphon: Issue 11, Spring 2014
Joint Poetry with Laszlo Slomovits Archived in Online Journals:
Segue: Volume 12, Fall 2014
Redheaded Stepchild: (Winter 2015): "Between Light"
Articles in Online Journals:
Poets Quarterly, Summer 2015: "White Space as Metaphoric Frame"
Awards
The Bellingham Review, Spring 1988 (second place, 49th Parallel Poetry Contest)
Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association Award, 2002 (third place for "Homeless in Lenawee County" series published in The Daily Telegram, Adrian, Michigan)
Honorable Mention, World Monuments Fund 2012 Haiku Contest
2016-2017 Picture Book Mentorship Award, SCBWI - Michigan
The Bellingham Review, Spring 1988 (second place, 49th Parallel Poetry Contest)
Michigan Associated Press Editorial Association Award, 2002 (third place for "Homeless in Lenawee County" series published in The Daily Telegram, Adrian, Michigan)
Honorable Mention, World Monuments Fund 2012 Haiku Contest
2016-2017 Picture Book Mentorship Award, SCBWI - Michigan