Kelli Russell Agodon (born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

) 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 ...

, writer, and editor. She is the cofounder of ''Two Sylvias Press'' and she serves on the poetry faculty at the Rainier Writing Workshop, a low-residency MFA program at

Pacific Lutheran University Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) is a Private university, private Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran university in Parkland, Washington. It was founded by Norwegian Lutheran immigrants in 1890. PLU is sponsored by the 580 congreg ...

. She co-hosts the poetry series
Poems You Need
with Melissa Studdard.

Life

She was raised in Seattle, and graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and

Rainier Writing Workshop with an MFA in creative writing. She lives in

Washington state Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

. Her works have appeared in the ''Atlantic Monthly,'' ''American Poetry Review'', ''Prairie Schooner'', ''North American Review'', ''Image'', ''5 a.m'', ''Meridian'', ''Calyx''.,

poets.org The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

, and ''

The Los Angeles Review Red Hen Press is an American non-profit press located in Pasadena, California, and specializing in the publication of poetry, literary fiction, and nonfiction. The press is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, and was a fi ...

''. She lives in the Northwest. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the '' Crab Creek Review'' from 2009 until 2014. She is the co-founder of Two Sylvias Press. She was the Co-Director of the Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Writing Retreat for Women until 2021, an organization she founded with poet Susan Rich in 2010.

Recognition

Agodon's book of poems, ''Dialogues with Rising Tides'' (Copper Canyon Press, 2021), was a Finalist for the Washington State Book Awards and shortlisted for the Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize in Poetry. Her book, ''Hourglass Museum'' (White Pine Press, 2014), was a Finalist for the Washington State Book Awards and shortlisted for the Julie Suk Prize in Poetry. Her book, ''Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room'' (White Pine Press, 2010), won the White Pine Press Poetry Prize judged by Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Dennis. It then won the Foreword Indie Book of the Year Prize in Poetry, was a Finalist for the Washington State Book Award, and voted as one of the Top 20 Books on GoodReads for Poetry.

Awards

* 2018 Poetry Society of America Lyric Poetry Prize *2015 Centrum Residency Recipient *2009 Artist Trust GAP Grant Recipient *2005 James Hearst Poetry Prize 3rd place *2003 Artist Trust GAP Grant Recipient

Works

"Hunger," Academy of American Poets, Poem-a-Day"Braided Between the Broken'',''" ''New England Review''"How Killer Blue Irises Spread'',''" ''The Atlantic''"Letting Gatsby Out at 11 p.m.'',''" ''Body Literature''
* ttp://www.wombpoetry.com/summer%20issue/agodon.html "Dord"; "Unintentionally Typing the Word Life Instead of Lips"; "?", ''Womb Poetry''br>"Sometimes I still dream about their pink bodies", ''Poetry Southeast''

Books

* * * *''Letters From the Emily Dickinson Room'', White Pine Press, 2010, * *

Anthologies

* * *

References

External links

* *
Two Sylvias Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agodon, Kelli Russell 1969 births Living people Poets from Washington (state) American women poets University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Pacific Lutheran University alumni 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers

Poets 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 ...

Bisexual_poets American LGBTQ poets