Adrian Blevins (born 1964 in

Abingdon, Virginia Abingdon is a town in and the county seat of Washington County, Virginia, United States, southwest of Roanoke. The population was 8,376 at the 2020 census. The town encompasses several historically significant sites and features a fine arts a ...

, United States) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. She is the author of four collections of poetry, including ''Appalachians Run Amok'', winner of the 2016 Wilder Prize (Two Sylvias Press, 2018). Her other full-length poetry collections are ''Status Pending'' ( Four Way Books, 2023), ''Live from the Homesick Jamboree'' (

Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present form ...

, 2009) and ''The Brass Girl Brouhaha'' (Ausable Press, now

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 by Sam Hamill, Tree Swenson, Bill O'Daly, and Jim Gautney, specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper C ...

, 2003). With Karen McElmurray, Blevins co-edited ''Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean: Meditations on the Forbidden from Contemporary Appalachia'' (

Ohio University Press Ohio University Press (OUP) is a university press associated with Ohio University. Founded in 1947, it is the oldest and largest scholarly press in the state of Ohio. Ohio University Press is also a member of the Association of University Presses ...

, 2015), a collection of essays of new and emerging Appalachian poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers. Her chapbooks are ''Bloodline'' (Hollyridge Press, 2012) and ''The Man Who Went Out for Cigarettes'', which won the first of Bright Hill Press's chapbook contests. (Bright Hill Press, 1996). Blevins won a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award in 2002. Other prizes include the Lamar York Prize for Nonfiction from the Chattahoochee Review, a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

for "Tally" from ''Appalachians Run Amok'', and other magazine prizes from ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, ''Ploughshares'' has been based at Emerson College in Bost ...

'' and ''Zone 3''. She was a Walter Daken Poetry Fellow at the Sewanee Writers' Conference in 2008 and a Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2017.

Life

Adrian Blevins was born in Abingdon, Virginia to a family of artists, including her grandfather (Banner Blevins who was a painter, sculptor, and cabinetmaker), her father (Tedd Blevins, who was a Virginia Intermont College art professor and painter), her stepfather (Jake Cress, who is a cabinetmaker), and her stepmother (Carole Blevins who is a painter). Blevins graduated with a BA from

Virginia Intermont College Virginia Intermont College (VI) was a private college in Bristol, Virginia founded in 1884 to create additional educational opportunities for women. The college became coeducational in 1972. It experienced significant financial difficulties duri ...

, a MA in fiction from

Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, Virginia, Botetourt Springs, it is Timeline of women's colleges in the Un ...

, and a MFA in Poetry from

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a required course of study, work an on-campus j ...

in 2002. She went on to teach at

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

Sweet Briar College Sweet Briar College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's liberal arts college in Sweet Briar, Amherst County, Virginia, Amherst County, Virginia. It was established in 1901 by Indiana Fletcher Williams in ...

, and at Lynchburg College as the Thornton Wilder Fellow. She currently teaches at

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine, United States. Founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, it was renamed Waterville College in 1821. The donations of Christian philanthropist Gardner ...

Waterville, Maine Waterville is a city in Kennebec County, Maine, United States, on the west bank of the Kennebec River. A college town, the city is home to Colby College, a New England Small College Athletic Conference, NESCAC college, and Thomas College. As ...

and lives in

East Winthrop, Maine East Winthrop is a village in the town of Winthrop in Kennebec County, Maine, United States. It is located just west of Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated po ...

. Her poems have appeared in ''

The American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...

'', ''

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

'', ''

The Baffler ''The Baffler'' is an American magazine of cultural, political, and business analysis. Established in 1988 by editors Thomas Frank and Keith White, it was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, until 2010, when it moved to Cambridge, Massachusett ...

'', ''

The Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Ficti ...

'', '' The Gettysburg Review'', ''Copper Nickel'', ''Crazyhorse'', ''

The Greensboro Review ''The Greensboro Review'', founded in 1966, is one of the nation's oldest literary magazines, based at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in Greensboro, North Carolina. It publishes fiction and poetry on a semi-annual basis. Work ...

'', '' The Southern Review'', ''

The Massachusetts Review ''The Massachusetts Review'' is a literary quarterly founded in 1959 by a group of professors from Amherst College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It receives financial support from Five Colle ...

'', ''

'', and elsewhere. They have been reprinted in ''The Open Door One Hundred Poems, One Hundred Years of "Poetry" Magazine''; ''Seriously Funny: Poems about Love, Death, Religion, Art, Politics, Sex, and Everything Else''; ''From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great''.

Awards

* 2024 Maine Literary Awards (Book Award for Poetry) for ''Status Pending'' * 2018 Wilder Prize, Two Sylvias Press * 2013

, ''Pushcart Prize XXXVII: Best of the Small Presses''. * 2012 ''Zone 3'' Poetry Award. * 2010 ''Ploughshares'' Cohen Award for "The Waning." * 2007 Walter E. Daken Fellowship, Sewanee Writers' Conference * 2004 Kate Tufts Discovery Award for ''The Brass Girl Brouhaha'' * 2002 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award * 2000 Lamar York Prize for Nonfiction from '' The Chattahoochee Review'' * 1996 Bright Hill Press Chapbook Award for ''The Man Who Went Out for Cigarettes'', which was reprinted in 1997

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections * ''The Brass Girl Brouhaha'' (Ausable Press, 2003), ISBN 978-1-931337-10-6 * ''Live from the Homesick Jamboree'' (

, 2009) *''Appalachians Run Amok'' (Two Sylvias Press, 2018) * ''Status Pending'' (Four Way, 2023) ;Chapbooks * ''The Man Who Went Out for Cigarettes'' (Bright Hill Press, 1997), ISBN 978-0-9646844-2-3 * ''Bloodline'' (Hollyridge Press, 2012) ;List of poems
"Status Report", ''poets.org''"Memo", ''poets.org''"Dear Mothers of America", ''poets.org''"The Way She Figured He Figured It", ''poets.org''"Hey You", ''poets.org''

"Love Poem for the Proles" on Poems from Here with Stuart Kestenbaum

Audio: ''From the Fishouse'' > Adrian Blevins Reading ''Why the Marriage Failed''

Nonfiction

*''Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean'' (Ohio University Press, 2015)
"How Narrative Saved Me"

"Nouns in Their Habitats"

"Educating by Poetry"

"Of Madmen and Spies"

"Of Madmen and Spies", cont.

"Of Madmen and Spies", cont.

Critical studies and reviews of Blevins' work

"Let Fly the Splendor"
by Abigail Deutsch,

Poetry Magazine ''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by poet and arts columnist Harriet Monroe, who built it int ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blevins, Adrian Living people Poets from Virginia Writers from Maine Virginia Intermont College alumni Hollins University alumni Warren Wilson College alumni Colby College faculty Roanoke College faculty 1964 births People from Abingdon, Virginia People from Waterville, Maine Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award winners 21st-century American poets