Lee Ann Brown (born 1963) is an American poet and book publisher. She has published several volumes of poetry in addition to being the founder of Tender Buttons Press, a poetry press dedicated to publishing experimental women's poetry.
Early life and education
Brown was born in
Saitama Prefecture
is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Saitama Prefecture has a population of 7,338,536 (1 January 2020) and has a geographic area of 3,797 km2 (1,466 sq mi). Saitama Prefecture borders Tochigi Prefecture ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
in 1963 and grew up in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
She attended
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
for both her undergraduate and master's degrees.
Career
Brown founded Tender Buttons Press in 1989.
The press's first publication was
Bernadette Mayer
Bernadette Mayer (May 12, 1945 – November 22, 2022) was an American poet, writer, and visual artist associated with both the Language poets and the New York School.
Early life and education
Bernadette Mayer was born in a predominantly Ge ...
’s book ''The Sonnets''.
The press has since released over a dozen books.
At the 2019 Firecracker Awards for independent publishers, the
Community of Literary Magazines and Presses gave Brown the Lord Nose Award, which recognizes a "lifetime of publishing."
Brown's first poetry collection, titled ''Polyverse'' and published by Sun & Moon Press in 1999, won the
New American Poetry
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
Competition judged by
Charles Bernstein Charles Bernstein may refer to:
* Charles Bernstein (composer) (born 1943), American composer of film and television scores
* Charles Bernstein (poet)
Charles Bernstein (born April 4, 1950) is an American poet, essayist, editor, and literary sc ...
, who chose Brown's collection to be published in the ''New American Poetry Series''.
''Polyverse'' was selected for a "Poet's Choice" review in the ''
Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' by
Robert Hass
Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book Award and shared the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for the collection ''Time and Materials: Poems 1997 ...
, who expressed confusion at some of the references in the work but called Brown "one of the wittiest and most inventive" young American poets.
In his review of ''Polyverse'' for ''
Jacket
A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which ...
'', Patrick Pritchett observed that the collection "gleams with the kind of insouciant glee that only the canniest combination of pure naivete and knowing craftsmanship can produce".
Writing for ''
Boston Review
''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...
'',
Elaine Equi
Elaine Equi (born 1953) is an American poet.
Equi was born in Oak Park, Illinois and grew up in the Chicago area. Since 1988 she has lived in New York City with her husband, poet Jerome Sala. She currently teaches creative writing in the Master ...
predicted that ''Polyverse'' would "establish her as one of the most adventurous, confident and interesting of today's experimental writers".
Brown's second book, ''The Sleep that Changed Everything'', was published by
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 for ...
in 2003. Michael Scharf, writing for ''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'', called the book "an enormous, huge-hearted second collection" that "should solidify her national reputation".
''Crowns of Charlotte'', published by Carolina Wren Press, followed ten years later, along with ''In the Laurels, Caught'', which was published by Fence Books.
In a review of ''In the Laurels, Caught'' for ''
The Rumpus
''The Rumpus'' is an online literary magazine launched on January 20, 2009. The site features interviews, book reviews, essays, comics, and critiques of creative culture as well as original fiction and poetry. The site runs two subscription-base ...
'', Sarah Sarai concluded that the work was "a surprise ball of a collection, a gift to unwrap and unravel".
A ''Publishers Weekly'' review of ''In the Laurels, Caught'' noted that the book had "practically everything", but observed that readers might be put off by the work's avant-garde approach.
Her book ''Other Archer'' was published in English and French by Presses Universitaires de Rouen et du Havre in 2015.
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
's critic
David Orr
David Duvall Orr (born October 4, 1944) is an American Democratic politician who served as the Cook County Clerk from 1990 to 2018. Orr previously served as alderman for the 49th ward in Chicago City Council from 1979 to 1990. He briefly served ...
, for a piece about
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
, quoted a verse of Brown's from her poem "After Sappho," describing it as "lovely."
Brown's work draws from the
New York School and
language poetry
The Language poets (or ''L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E'' poets, after the magazine of that name) are an avant-garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The poets included: Bernadette Mayer, Leslie Scalapi ...
, as well as her upbringing in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
.
She has taught at
Brown University
Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...
,
Naropa University
Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university describes itself as B ...
,
Bard College
Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...
, and
the New School
The New School is a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1919 as The New School for Social Research with an original mission dedicated to academic freedom and intellectual inquiry and a home for progressive thinkers. ...
.
Personal life
Brown lives in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, where she runs the Page Poetry Parlor.
References
External links
Author's Page at EPCAuthor’s audio page at PennSound
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Lee Ann
New York School poets
Language poets
Brown University alumni
20th-century American poets
20th-century American women writers
1963 births
Living people
21st-century American women