Carolyn Elkins
1715 College Street(662) 846-7840
Cleveland, MS
Education:
Doctoral work in English literature (33 hours), UTK, 1981-82, 1987-88
M.A. in English, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 1981
B.A. Wells College, Aurora, New York, 1973
Teaching Experience:
1989-present Assistant Professor of English, Delta State University
Courses taught: Poetry Writing Workshop, British Literature, Modern Poetry,
Modern Novel, Science Fiction, Shakespeare, Freshman Composition, Survey of
Literature
1980-81 and 1987-88 Teaching Associate, Freshman composition and literature,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
1976-77 Instructor in English, University of Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil (Peace Corps)
Honors and Awards:
Grand Prize in Poetry in the Red Rock Review annual poetry competition for “High Lonesome,” and Honorable Mention for “Middle Texas,” 2001
Nominated for MIAL Poetry Book Award (Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters), 2001
Coriolis Forces, winner of Palanquin Press Chapbook Competition, 2000
Mississippi Humanities Council teaching award, 1999
Pushcart Prize nomination in poetry, 1998
Winner, Poetry Slam, Wildacres Writers Workshop, 1996, 1997, and 1998
Book publications:
Daedalus Rising, Emrys Press, Greenville, SC, 2002
Coriolis Forces, Palanquin Press, Aiken, SC, 2000
Journal publications:
“After Taking My Son to the Airport,” “Beyond Deciphering,” “Between Sodom and Gomorrah,” and “Salome,” Birmingham Poetry Review, 2002
“Peripheral Vision” and “Plane Geometry,” Gulfstreaming, 2002
“Fireflies” and “Daedalus Rising,” Magnolia Heart-Songs: Seven Decades of Southern Poetry, 2002
“Lee, After the War,” American Studies in Scandinavia (Odense, Denmark), 2001
“High Lonesome” and “Middle Texas,” Red Rock Review, 2001
“New Moon” and “A Man Walks into a Bar,” Tar River Poetry, 2000
“Golden Road,” Tar River Poetry 20th Anniversary Issue: “Best of TRP,” 1998
“Autumn Woman,” Sunstone, 1998
“Blood,” Poems & Plays, 1998
“Fractals,” Passager, 1998
“For My Son,” Tar River Poetry, 1997
“Holding Back Darkness,” CEAMAGazine (College English Assoc.), 1997
“Golden Road,” Tar River Poetry, 1996
“Dark Window,” Astarte, 1996
“Ode on a Painted Gourd,” MCTE Journal, 1996
“Grandpa’s House,” North Branch, 1996
“Funeral” and “Baptism by Fire,” POMPA, 1996
“Violets,” Asheville Poetry Review, 1995
“The Drowning Beach,” New Delta Review, 1995
“For My Son,” North Branch, 1995
“Sunk into the Delta,” Distillery, 1994
“Listening to Terry,” MCTE Journal, 1994
“My Mother’s Smile,” Psychopoetica (Hull, England), 1994
“Fractals,” Earth News, 1994
“Balance,” North Branch, 1994
“Crossing” and “Dragonflies,” Aura Literary/Arts Review, 1993
“Listening to a Poet Reading,” Reflections, 1993
“Violets,” “Drowning Beach,” and “Dark Window,” POMPA, 1992
“Dragonfly,” MCTE Journal, 1992
Editing:
POMPA (Publications of the Mississippi Philological Association),
Poetry and Fiction editor, 1998-present
Best of Poetry Night, editor, 1995-present
Tapestry, guest editor, 1996
On the Way Home, Ruby Shoes Press, editor, 1995-96
Workshops taught:
Summer Arts Program, 2-week-long poetry and fiction workshops, DSU, 2000-present
Mississippi Poetry Society Spring Poetry Festival, Lake Tiak-O’Khata, 2000, 2002
Poetry workshops for MCCCWA, (Mississippi Community College Creative Writing Assoc.), Goodman, 2001
Poetry Society of Tennessee, annual workshops, Memphis, 2001
Poetry workshop for the Mississippi Literary Competition, St. Andrew’s School, Jackson,
1999
Summer Arts Program, week-long poetry workshop, DSU, 1999
Poetry workshops for MCCCWA, Decatur, 1998
1-day poetry workshop, Carrollton, 1998
Poets in Person, a 4-week program sponsored by the NEH, the American Library Assoc.,
and Poetry magazine, Indianola, 1997
Poetry workshops for MCCCWA, Fulton, 1997
3-week Poetry Workshop in Greenwood, 1997
Teaching Poetry Workshops, MCTE (Mississippi Council of Teachers of English), 1996
Poetry workshops for public schools grades 3-6 in Cleveland and Merigold, MS, 1993-96
Representative Readings:
Visiting Poets Series, Catawba College, Salisbury, NC, 2002
Emrys Press Foundation, Featured Poet Reading, Greenville, SC, 2002
Lambda Iota Tau Honor Society, DSU, 2002
Mississippi Philological Association, annual conference readings, 1992-2002
Mississippi Poetry Society Spring Festival, Keynote Reading, 2002
Wildacres Writers Workshop, Little Switzerland, NC, annual readings, 1995-2002
“Visions, Voices, and Vistas” Conference, Moorhead, MS, 2001
Tennessee Poetry Society, Keynote Reading, Memphis, 2001
Summer Arts Program, Faculty Performance, DSU, 1999-2000
Inaugural Breakfast reading for President David Potter, DSU, 2000
Mississippi PENN Women, Drew, MS, 1998
SAMLA Poets (South Atlantic Modern Language Assoc.), Atlanta, 1997
Mississippi Community College Creative Writing Conference keynote address, Itawamba Community College, 1997
Asheville Poetry Festival, Asheville, NC, 1997, 1996, and 1995
Southern Writers Conference, Oxford, MS, 1996
Mississippi Council of Teachers of English, annual readings, 1993-96
Eudora Welty Festival, Old Capitol Building, Jackson, 1996
First Tuesday program, Delta State University, 1996 and 1993
Mississippi Council of Teachers of English Regional Conference, New Orleans, 1995
“The Poetry Show,” KABF radio, Little Rock, AR, 1995
American Association of University Women, Cleveland, 1991
Poetry Judging:
North Carolina Writers Network Mary Belle Campbell Chapbook Contest (2002)
Poetry Society of Tennessee Best of the Festival poetry contest (2001)
North Carolina Writers Network haiku contest (2000)
Mississippi Literary Competition in poetry (1999)
MCCCWA poetry competitions (1997, 1998, 2001)
Southern Voices poetry competition for MSMS (1998)
Mississippi Girl Scouts poetry competition (1995)
Workshops Attended:
Wildacres Writers Workshop, Little Switzerland, NC, 1-week workshops each July, 1995-2002
Poets in Person Workshop, San Francisco, led by Joseph Parisi, 1997
Asheville Poetry Festival (studied with James Tate, 1996, and Yusef Komunyakaa, 1997)
Ruidoso Writers Workshop (studied with Lee K. Abbott and Paul Zimmer), 1996
North Carolina Writers Conference (studied with Ellen Bryant Voigt, 1995, and Deborah Pope, 1996)
Professional Service:
University Committees and Service:
Editorial Committee of the SACS self-study, 2002-present
Student Publications Committee, 2000 – present; Chair, 2001-2002
Attendance Committee, 1991-1999
Co-editor, SACS self-study document, 1993-94
Division Committees and Service:
Ellen Douglas Scholarship Committee, Chair, 1992-present
Publications Committee, 1997-present; Chair, 2000-2001
Advisement Committee, 1991-present
Masters Orals committees, 1997-2002
Composition Committee, 1991-1997
Host for visiting writers, 1996-2003
Public Service and Community Activities:
Parent-Student-Teacher Assoc., Cleveland 1997-2001
Chair, Scholarship Awards Committee, 1998-2001
Steering Committee, 1998-2001
Professional Memberships and Offices Held:
South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA)
SAMLA Poets panel, Executive Committee, 2001, 1998, 1997; Chair, 2000; Secretary, 1999
Mississippi Philological Association (MPA)
co-chair of MPA annual conference, 2003
Associated Writing Programs
Mississippi Writers Association
Mississippi Poetry Society
North Carolina Writers Network
South Carolina Writers Network