Betsy Sholl
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Elizabeth "Betsy" Sholl (born 1945) is an American poet who was poet laureate of
Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...
from 2006 to 2011 and has authored nine collections of poetry. Sholl has received several poetry awards, including the 1991 AWP Award, and the 2015 Maine Literary Award, as well as receiving fellowships from the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
and the Maine Arts Commission. Sholl's poetry has been published in anthologies and in literary journals including ''
Orion Magazine ''Orion'' is an advertisement-free nonprofit quarterly magazine focused on nature, culture, and place addressing environmental and social issue A social issue is a problem that affects many people within a society. It is a group of common pr ...
'', '' Field'', '' TriQuarterly'', ''
The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ''T ...
'', '' The Massachusetts Review'', and '' Ploughshares''.


Career

Sholl was one the founding members of Alice James Books, a non-profit publishing house at the University of Maine at Farmington, established in 1973 with the intent of widening women's access to publishing. Sholl published her first three poetry collections with Alice James Books: ''Changing Faces'' (1974), ''Appalachian Winter'' (1978) and ''Rooms Overhead'' (1986). In 1991, Sholl's
chapbook A chapbook is a type of small printed booklet that was a popular medium for street literature throughout early modern Europe. Chapbooks were usually produced cheaply, illustrated with crude woodcuts and printed on a single sheet folded into 8, 1 ...
''Pick a Card'' won the Maine Chapbook Competition, which was judged by
Donald Hall Donald Andrew Hall Jr. (September 20, 1928 – June 23, 2018) was an American poet, writer, editor, and literary critic. He was the author of more than 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and inc ...
. That same year, her poetry collection ''The Red Line'' won the Association of Writers & Writing Programs award for poetry. The National Endowment for the Arts gave Sholl an artist fellowship in 1994. In 1997, Sholl's collection ''Don't Explain'' was selected by
Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as United States Poet Laureate, Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have bee ...
to receive the Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry. Dove, a previous holder of the position of US Poet Laureate, described Sholl's poems as "what narrative can aspire to – namely, the grace and ease of the lyric rhapsody". Sholl served as Maine's third poet laureate from 2006 to 2011. This is an honorary five-year position, with the laureate chosen in a process overseen by the Maine Arts Commission and appointed by the
Governor of Maine The governor of Maine is the head of government of the U.S. state of Maine. Before Maine was admitted to the Union in 1820, Maine was part of Massachusetts and the governor of Massachusetts was chief executive. The current governor of Maine is J ...
, then
John Baldacci John Elias Baldacci (born January 30, 1955) is an American politician who served as the 73rd governor of Maine from 2003 to 2011. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, he also served in the United States House of Representatives from 199 ...
. Sholl's collection ''Otherwise Unseeable'' won two prizes, the 2014 Four Lakes Prize in Poetry, and the 2015 Maine Literary Award for Poetry. Sholl taught at the
University of Southern Maine The University of Southern Maine (USM) is a public university with campuses in Gorham and Portland, Maine, United States. It is the southernmost university in the University of Maine System. It was founded as two separate state universities, Go ...
for over two decades. She teaches in the Master of Fine Arts program at the
Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...
, and she has been a visiting poet at the University of Pittsburgh and at Bucknell University, and has twice received an Individual Artist Fellowship Award from the Maine Arts Commission. Regarding poetry, Sholl has said that its main purpose "is to refresh or renew the language" and that "it renews the presence and aliveness of language".


Personal life and education

Born in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, Sholl grew up in Bricktown, New Jersey. In 1967, she gained a BA in English Literature from
Bucknell University Bucknell University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal-arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts a ...
, in 1969 an MA from the
University of Rochester The University of Rochester is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York, United States. It was founded in 1850 and moved into its current campus, next to the Genesee River in 1930. With approximately 30,000 full ...
, and in 1989 a MFA in writing from Vermont College. She moved to Maine in 1983 after stints in Boston and
Big Stone Gap, Virginia Big Stone Gap is a town in Wise County, Virginia, United States. The town was economically centered around the coal industry for much of its early development. The population was 5,254 at the 2020 census. History The community was formerly kn ...
, and now lives in
Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...
with her husband Doug.


Published works


Full-length poetry collections

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Chapbooks

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Contributions in anthologies

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Contributions in literary journals

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References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sholl, Betsy Living people Poets from Maine Writers from Portland, Maine People from Brick Township, New Jersey People from Lakewood Township, New Jersey University of Rochester alumni Bucknell University alumni University of Southern Maine faculty Poets laureate of Maine National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Vermont College of Fine Arts alumni Poets from New Jersey Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty American women poets 1945 births American women academics 21st-century American women Writers from Ocean County, New Jersey