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