Rachel Zucker is an American poet born in New York City in 1971. She is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently, ''SoundMachine'' (
Wave Books 2019). She also co-edited the book ''Women Poets on Mentorship: Efforts and Affections'' with fellow poet,
Arielle Greenberg.
Biography
Rachel Zucker was born in New York City in 1971. The daughter of storyteller
Diane Wolkstein and novelist Benjamin Zucker, she was raised in Greenwich Village and traveled around the world with her parents on Wolkstein's folktale-collecting trips. After high school, Zucker attended
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
where she majored in Psychology, focusing on Child Development, though she took as many literature, writing and photography classes as she was allowed. Zucker later went on to the
Iowa Writers' Workshop
The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wr ...
where she received her M.F.A. in poetry.
["Extended Bio"]
RachelZucker.net. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
She teaches graduate and undergraduate poetry classes at New York University's Creative Writing Program and in Antioch University's Low-Residency MFA program. She has taught at Yale and served as poet in residence at Fordham University (2005–2007).
Zucker is creator and host of the podcast Commonplace: Conversations with Poets (and Other People). She is currently working on an immersive audio project called ''SoundMachine'', accompanying her 2019 collection of the same name. Her poem, "In Your Version of Heaven I Am Younger''"'' was featured in the anthology, ''The Best American Poetry 2001'' (edited by Robert Hass).
Zucker lives in New York City and Scarborough, Maine with her husband and three sons and teaches at New York University and Antioch University. She holds certifications as a labor doula from the
Doulas of North America (DONA) and as a collaborative childbirth educator (CCE) from the Childbirth Education Association of Metropolitan New York. Since that time she has aided many women during labor, birth and postpartum and through her doula work and her writing, advocates for universal access to maternity care.
Awards and honors
* National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship (2013)
* Bagley Wright Lecture Series, Lecturer (2016)
* Salt Hill Poetry Award (1999), judged by
C.D. Wright
Carolyn D. Wright (January 6, 1949 – January 12, 2016) was an American poet. She was a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Poet Laureate of Rhode Island.
Background
C. D. Wright was born in Mountain Home, Arkansas, to a chancery ju ...
)
* Barrow Street Poetry Prize (2000)
* Center for Book Arts Award (judged by
Lynn Emanuel
Lynn Collins Emanuel (born March 14, 1949) is an American poet. Some of her poetry collections are ''Then, Suddenly—'' and ''Noose and Hook'' (University of Pittsburgh Press).
She has received two grants from the National Endowment for the A ...
)
* "Museum of Accidents" was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Bibliography
Poetry
* ''Eating in the Underworld'' (
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 fo ...
, 2003)
* ''The Last Clear Narrative'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2004)
* ''The Bad Wife Handbook'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2006)
* ''Museum of Accidents'' (Wave Books, 2009)
* ''MOTHERs'' (Counterpath Press, 2013)
* ''The Pedestrians'' (
Wave Books, 2014)
* ''SoundMachine'' (Wave Books, 2019)
Anthologies
*
*
*
Non-fiction
* ''Home/Birth'' (1913 Press, 2010)
* ''MOTHERs'' (Counterpath Press, 2014)
* ''The Poetics of Wrongness'' (Wave Press, 2023) ISBN 978-1950268702
Critical studies and reviews
*
*
References
External links
*
* Poetry Foundation
"Rachel Zucker"* Nichols, Travis (March 30, 2010)
''
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
''
"Poem of the Day Podcast: Rachel Zucker’s 'Please Alice Notley Tell Me How to be Old'" InDigest. December 6, 2011
* Chiasson, Dan (June 2, 2014)
"Mother Tongue: Poetry and prose by Rachel Zucker" ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issue ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zucker, Rachel
1971 births
Living people
New York University faculty
Poets from New York (state)
American women poets
Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni
University of Iowa alumni
Writers from New York City
Yale College alumni
21st-century American poets
21st-century American women writers
Antioch University faculty