Danielle Pafunda is an American writer and poet. She has taught for the

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

, and is 2018-19 Visiting Assistant Professor of Poetry and Poetics at the

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine, United States. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universitie ...

. She also teaches for Mississippi University for Women's low-residency MFA. She often lives and works in the Mojave Desert.

Early life and education

Danielle Pafunda is native of upstate New York. She earned a BA in

Russian literature Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...

and

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

from

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains within the Hudson River Historic District ...

in New York. She earned her MFA in

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 ...

from the

New School The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers ...

also located in New York. Pafunda earned her PhD in English Literature from the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

. She has taught creative writing, English literature, gender and women's studies, queer studies, cultural diversity and disability studies at

Columbia College Chicago Columbia College Chicago is a Private college, private art college in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1890, it has 6,493 students (as of fall 2021) pursuing degrees in more than 60 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It i ...

, University of Wyoming, University of California San Diego, and University of Maine.

Career

She is author of ten poetry collections. Her first collection, ''Pretty Young Thing'', was published by Soft Skull Press in 2005. ''My Zorba'' was published by Bloof Books in 2008, ''Iatrogenic: Their Testimonies'' by Noemi Press in 2010, ''Manhater'' by Dusie Press in 2012, and ''Natural History Rape Museum'' by Bloof Books in 2013. Recent collections include ''The Dead Girls Speak in Unison'' from Bloof Books 2017, ''Beshrew'' Dusie Press 2019, and ''Spite'' Ahsahta Press 2020 forthcoming. Her first book of prose ''The Book of Scab'' is forthcoming from Ricochet Editions. Among Pafunda's awards are inclusion in the Best American Poetry series, and in the Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day feature. Her poems and essays have appeared in ''American Poet, Conjunctions, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review'', and others. Pafunda was editor of the online literary journal ''La Petite Zine'' for seven years, and currently serves on the board of directors o
VIDA: Women in Literary Arts
She currently splits her time between Maine and the Mojave Desert.

Works

Danielle Pafunda's books include: *Pretty Young Thing (2005) *My Zorba (2008) *Iatrogenic: Their Testimonies (2010) *Manhater (2012) *Natural History Rape Museum (2013) *The Dead Girls Speak in Unison (2017) *The Book of Scab (2018) *Beshrew (2019) Her poems appear in: *Please Excuse This Poem: 100 New Poets for the Next Generation *Hick Poetics *Beauty Is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability *The American Best Poetry (2004, 2006 & 2007) *Gurlesque: The New Grrly, Grotesque, Burlesque Poetics *Not for Mothers Only: Contemporary Poems on Child Getting and Child Rearing Her poems, essays, and short stories have appeared in A''merican Poet, Conjunctions, Denver Quarterly, Fairy Tale Review, Kenyon Review'' and ''The Huffington Post''.

Poetic style

Pafunda is a neo-gothic feminist poet interested in bodies, power, and pain: “I have always had to, and will always have to, live consciously within the meat of the body, and this meat life influences every fiber of my politics/poetics.” “In poetry I try to do at least one thing consistently: to attract the gaze, to pin or fix it in place, and then show it those sights which brutalize, horrify, repulse, or shame it.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pafunda, Danielle Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Wyoming faculty American women poets Bard College alumni American women academics 21st-century American women