Jennifer Boyden (born 1969) is an American poet and teacher.

Life

Jennifer Boyden grew up in Stillwater,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. She attended

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

(B.A., Creative Writing), and Eastern Washington University (M.F.A., Creative Writing, With Distinction). Boyden's first book, ''The Mouths of Grazing Things'', was selected by

Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most o ...

to receive the

Brittingham Prize in Poetry The Brittingham Prize in Poetry is a major United States literary award for a book of poetry chosen from an open competition. The prize, established in 1985, is sponsored by the English Department at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and is ...

in 2010 (University of Wisconsin Press). Her poetry is primarily lyrical and imagistic, and her themes often relate to environmental issues. In 1999, she was awarded the PEN Northwest Wilderness Writing residency and lived in an isolated, remote wilderness region near the Rogue River in southern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. Her work was influenced by this wilderness immersion. A later environmental project was funded by a grant from Washington State Artist Trust Gap Grants. For this project, Boyden walked hundreds of miles and wrote essays that arose from the walks. Boyden also collaborates with visual artists. Projects that feature her text include work with Buster Simpson and her husband, visual artist Ian Boyden, as well as creative nonfiction responding to work by artists such as photographer Peter deLory. She currently lives in Suzhou, China where she teaches at Soochow University. She has also taught at

Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla Community College (WWCC), often referred to as just “CC” locally, is a multi-campus community college in southeastern Washington state. History Walla Walla Community College was founded in 1967 by Peter Dietrich when the region ...

and at

Whitman College Whitman College is a private liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington. The school offers 53 majors and 33 minors in the liberal arts and sciences, and it has a student-to-faculty ratio of 9:1. Whitman was the first college in the Pacific ...

(

Walla Walla Walla Walla can refer to: * Walla Walla people, a Native American tribe after which the county and city of Walla Walla, Washington, are named * Place of many rocks in the Australian Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, the origin of the name of the town ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

). Eastern Washington University (

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

), The

Cambridge Center for Adult Education The Cambridge Center for Adult Education (CCAE), a non-profit corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has been teaching adult education courses at 42 Brattle Street since taking over the building from the Cambridge Social Union in 1938. The CC ...

(

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

), and the

Sitka Center for Art and Ecology The Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, located in Otis, Oregon, Otis, Oregon, United States, was established in 1970 as an entity of the Neskowin Coast Foundation, which was founded May 8, 1970. The Sitka Center was established to expand the relatio ...

( Otis,

). Her main teaching areas are creative writing, poetry, environmental literature, and experimental and cross-genre forms.

Books

* ''The Mouths of Grazing Things'' (2010, University of Wisconsin Press). Awarded the Brittingham Prize in Poetry * ''Roots of Clouds, Transcendence of Stones'' (Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College, 2004). Essays, vignettes, and photographs regarding stones; written with geologist Terry Toedtemeier and artist Ian Boyden * ''Evidence of Night'' (artist book, Crab Quill Press, 2003) * ''Twenty Views of Cascade Head'' (artist book, Crab Quill Press, 2001)

Awards

* The Brittinghm Prize in poetry, 2010, selected by Robert Pinsky (University of Wisconsin Press) * PEN Northwest Wilderness Writing Residency. *Washington State Artist Trust Gap Grant. *Distinguished Alumni Award :* Eastern Washington University, Inland Northwest Center for Writers, 2010 :* Blue Mountain Arts Alliance grant awarded for Convergences, a public art sculpture installed in downtown Walla Walla,

, 2004.

References

External links

2011 Interview
* Zhang Yunyun

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyden, Jennifer 1969 births Living people Poets from Minnesota People from Stillwater, Minnesota Creighton University alumni Eastern Washington University alumni American women poets Educators from Minnesota American women educators 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers