Elise Paschen (born January 1959) is an American poet and member of the

Osage Nation The Osage Nation ( ) ( Osage: 𐓁𐒻 𐓂𐒼𐒰𐓇𐒼𐒰͘ ('), "People of the Middle Waters") is a Midwestern Native American tribe of the Great Plains. The tribe developed in the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys around 700 BC along ...

. She is the co-founder and co-editor of Poetry in Motion, a program which places poetry posters in subways and buses across the country.

Career and education

The daughter of renowned

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

Maria Tallchief Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to ...

and Chicago contractor Henry D. Paschen, she was born and raised in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, where she attended the Francis W. Parker School. Paschen is a member of the

."The Osage Nation will host Writers Summit."
''Osage Nation.'' Retrieved 8 July 2012. While an undergraduate at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

, Paschen received the Lloyd McKim Garrison Medal for poetry, and served as Poetry Editor of the Harvard Advocate. At

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where she received her M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in 20th Century British and American Literature, she co-founded and co-edited

Oxford Poetry ''Oxford Poetry'' is a literary magazine based in Oxford, England. It is currently edited by Luke Allan. The magazine is published by Partus Press. Founded in 1910 by Basil Blackwell, its editors have included Dorothy L. Sayers, Aldous Huxley, R ...

. Executive Director of the

Poetry Society of America The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, Ro ...

from 1988 until 2001, she has edited numerous anthologies, including the New York Times bestsellers ''Poetry Speaks''. Her books of poetry include, most recently, ''The Nightlife'', as well as ''Bestiary'', ''Infidelities'', winner of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize, and ''Houses: Coasts''. Her poems have been published in numerous magazines and anthologies including ''The New Yorker,'' ''Poetry'' and ''The Best American Poetry 2018''. Paschen teaches in the MFA Writing Program at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...

. She lives in Chicago with her husband, Stuart Brainerd, and their two children.

Awards

* Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize, for ''Infidelities'' * Lloyd McKim Garrison Medal for poetry * Joan Grey Untermyer Poetry Prize * Richard Selig Poetry Prize * Frances C. Allen Fellowship

Works

* ''Houses: Coasts'' (Sycamore Press, Oxford, 1985) * ''Infidelities'' (Story Line Press, 1996) * ''Bestiary'' (Red Hen Press, 2009) *''The Nightlife'' (Red Hen Press, 2017)

Anthologies featuring her poems

* ''Reinventing the Enemy’s Language: Contemporary Native Women’s Writings of North America'' (1997) * ''Ravishing DisUnities: Real

Ghazal The ''ghazal'' ( ar, غَزَل, bn, গজল, Hindi-Urdu: /, fa, غزل, az, qəzəl, tr, gazel, tm, gazal, uz, gʻazal, gu, ગઝલ) is a form of amatory poem or ode, originating in Arabic poetry. A ghazal may be understood as a ...

s in English'' (2000) * ''The POETRY Anthology, 1912—2002'' (2002) * ''A Formal Feeling Comes: Poems in Form by Contemporary Women'' (2007) * ''Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology'' (University of Georgia Press, 2018)

Editor or co-editor

* ''Poetry in Motion'' (1996) * ''Poetry Speaks'' (2001) * ''Poetry in Motion from Coast to Coast'' (2002) * ''Poetry Speaks to Children'' (2005) * '' Poetry Speaks Expanded'' (2007) * ''Poetry Speaks Who I Am'' (2010)Poetry Speaks Who I Am
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Notes

External links

Elise Paschen
author homepage
Elise Paschen
on NativeWiki.
Elise Paschen
on Twitter. *https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/elise-paschen {{DEFAULTSORT:Paschen, Elise 1959 births Living people 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans Alumni of the University of Oxford American women poets Art Institute of Chicago Harvard University alumni Native American poets Native American women writers Osage people Writers from Chicago 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Francis W. Parker School (Chicago) alumni