Kim Suzanne Bridgford (August 8, 1959 – June 28, 2020) was an American poet, writer, critic, and academic. In her poetry, she wrote primarily in

traditional forms Traditional Chinese characters are a standard set of Chinese character forms used to write Chinese languages. In Taiwan, the set of traditional characters is regulated by the Ministry of Education and standardized in the ''Standard Form of N ...

, particularly

sonnet A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...

s. She was the director of Poetry by the Sea: A Global Conference, established in 2014 and first held in May 2015. She directed the

West Chester University Poetry Conference The West Chester University Poetry Conference is an international poetry conference that has been held annually since 1995 at West Chester University, Pennsylvania, United States. It hosts various panel discussions and poetry craft workshops, wh ...

from 2010-14. As editor-in-chief at '' Mezzo Cammin'', a journal of poetry by women, she founded The ''Mezzo Cammin'' Women Poets Timeline Project, which is designed to become the world's largest database of

women poets A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional uteruses ...

. She was formerly the editor of ''Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and Prose''.

Life

Kim Bridgford was born in 1959. She grew up in

Coal Valley, Illinois The village of Coal Valley is located in both Rock Island County and Henry County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 3,873 at the time of the 2020 census, up from 3,743 at the 2010 census. It is mostly residential, housing famili ...

. She earned both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

; the latter degree was earned from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

. Bridgford earned her Ph.D. from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

. She started teaching at

Fairfield University Fairfield University is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Fairfield, Connecticut. It was founded by the Jesuits in 1942. In 2023, the university had about 5,000 full-time undergraduate students and 1,200 gra ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

in 1989.Sara Quigle
"In Poetry And Politics Fairfield Professors Rise To The Occasion", ''Fairfield Mirror'' (October 10, 2007)
/ref> In 1994, she moved to

Wallingford, Connecticut Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, centrally located between New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford, and Boston and New York City. The town is part ...

with her husband, Peter Duval, an award-winning author of fiction.Jane Gordon.
NOTICED; Surprised by an Award, but Not Speechless
, ''The New York Times'', December 25, 2005. In 1996, their son, Nick, was born. In August 2010, she and her family moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where Bridgford joined the

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university located in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the ...

faculty and served as director of the West Chester University Poetry Center.Michael Peich
Bridgford Announcement
." Bridgford died from cancer on June 28, 2020, at the age of 60, at a hospice care center in

Bettendorf, Iowa Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. The population was 39,102 at the 2020 census. Bettendorf is the fifth of the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River, along with neighboring Davenport in Iowa and Moline, East Molin ...

Awards and honors

In 1994, Bridgford was named Connecticut Professor of the Year by the

Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (CFAT) is a U.S.-based education policy and research center. It was founded by Andrew Carnegie in 1905 and chartered in 1906 by an act of the United States Congress. Among its most not ...

. In 1999, she was awarded a

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 ...

fellowship in poetry. In 2003, she received a poetry fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. Bridgford was the 2007 Touring Poet for the Connecticut Poetry Circuit. That year, her book ''In the Extreme: Sonnets about World Records'' received the 2007 Donald Justice Poetry Award.

Books

*2003 — ''Undone'' (WordTech Communications) *2005 — ''Instead of Maps'' (WordTech Communications, May 1, 2005), nominated for the

Poets' Prize The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who ...

*2007 — ''In the Extreme: Sonnets about World Records'' (

Contemporary Poetry Review Garrick Davis (born 1971 in Los Angeles) is an American poet and critic. He was Poetry Editor of ''First Things'' magazine from 2020 until 2021. Career Davis is the founding editor of the ''Contemporary Poetry Review'', the largest online arch ...

Press), winner of

Donald Justice Poetry Prize The Donald Justice Poetry Prize is a prestigious national competitionJessica Benham.Texas Tech University Professor Receives Prestigious Donald Justice Poetry Prize" ''Texas Tech News''. July 14, 2008 sponsored by the Iris N. Spencer Poetry Award ...

*2010 — ''Take-Out: Sonnets about Fortune Cookies'' (David Roberts Books; WordTech Communications) *2011 — ''Hitchcock's Coffin: Sonnets about Classic Films'' (David Roberts Books; WordTech Communications) *2012 — ''Bully Pulpit: Poems'' (White Violet Press) *2013 — ''Epiphanies: Poems'' (David Roberts Books; WordTech Communications) *2014 — ''Doll'' (Main Street Rag) *2016 — ''Human Interest'' (White Violet Press) *2019 — ''A Crown for Ted and Sylvia'' (Wipf and Stock) In addition, Bridgford's poetry has appeared in ''The North American Review'', ''The Christian Science Monitor'', and ''The Iowa Review''.''Extreme: Sonnets about World-Records,'' Amazon.com Profile
/ref> While best known as a poet, she also wrote fiction which has appeared in ''The Georgia Review'', ''The Massachusetts Review'', and ''Redbook''.

References

External links

Dogwood: A Journal of Poetry and ProseDonald Justice Poetry Prize
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bridgford, Kim 1959 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers Academics from Illinois American academics of English literature American women non-fiction writers American women poets Deaths from cancer in Iowa Fairfield University faculty Formalist poets People from Coal Valley, Illinois People from Wallingford, Connecticut Poets from Illinois Sonneteers University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni University of Iowa alumni West Chester University faculty American women academics