Lucia Maria Perillo (September 30, 1958 – October 16, 2016) was an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. In 2000, Perillo was recognized with a "genius grant" as part of the

MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

Life and career

Perillo was born 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 ...

on September 30, 1958 and grew up in Irvington.Gates, Anita
"Lucia Perillo, Whose Illness Shaped Her Poetry, Dies at 58"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 25, 2016. Accessed October 26, 2016. "Lucia Maria Perillo was born on Sept. 30, 1958, in Manhattan and grew up in suburban Irvington, N.Y." Her work appeared in ''

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 issues ...

'', ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' and ''

The Kenyon Review ''The Kenyon Review'' is a literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, US, home of Kenyon College. ''The Review'' was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959. ' ...

'', among other magazines. A traditional poet of mostly free-verse personal reflection, she wrote extensively about living with

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

in her poems and essays. ''Time Will Clean the Carcass Bones'' was her last book of poetry (

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both pop ...

, 2016). Her 2012 collection of short fiction, ''Happiness is a Chemical in the Brain,'' was shortlisted for the 2013 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. She died on October 16, 2016 in

Olympia, Washington Olympia is the capital of the U.S. state of Washington and the county seat and largest city of Thurston County. It is southwest of the state's most populous city, Seattle, and is a cultural center of the southern Puget Sound region. Europea ...

, aged 58.

Awards

*1989 Samuel French Morse Award, Northeastern University Press *1990 Norma Farber First Book Award, Poetry Society of America for ''Dangerous Life'' *1991 PEN/Revson Award, Pen American Center, NY *Purdue University's Emery Poetry Prize *1993 Illinois Arts Council Award for Creative Non-Fiction *1994 Finalist, National Poetry Series *1995 Verna Emery Poetry Prize, Purdue University Press *1995 Iowa Poetry Prize *1997 Kate Tufts Discovery Award *1997 Balcones Prize, Austin Community College for ''The Body Mutinies'' *1998 Chad Walsh Poetry Prize, The

Beloit Poetry Journal The ''Beloit Poetry Journal'' is an American poetry magazine established in 1950 at Beloit College.MacArthur Fellows Program The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

award *2003 Pushcart Prize for "Shrike Tree" *2005 Pushcart Prize for "In the Confessional Mode" *2006 Finalist,

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...

*2010 Washington State Book Award for ''Inseminating the Elephant'' *2010 Bobbit Prize, Library of Congress for ''Inseminating the Elephant'' *2010

Pulitzer Prize in Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

finalist for ''Inseminating the Elephant'' *2012 WA State Governor's Arts Medal *2012

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award __NOTOC__ The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award—named in honour of Frank O'Connor, who devoted much of his work to the form—was an international literary award presented for the best short story collection. It was presented betwe ...

finalist for ''Happiness is a Chemical in the Brain'' *2013 PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize finalist for ''Happiness is a Chemical in the Brain'' *2013

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Shelley Memorial Award The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need, and is ...

*2013

Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award, also known as the Pacific Northwest Book Award (PNBA), is an annual award presented by the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association to recognize "excellence in writing" from the American Pacif ...

for ''On the Spectrum of Possible Deaths''"2013 Pacific Northwest Book Awards Announced"
NW Book Loves, January 7, 2013. Accessed October 27, 2016. "The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association, the indie bookstore booster behind this blog, announced the winners of their annual book awards today. Congratulations are in order for... Lucia Perillo (Olympia, WA) for ''On the Spectrum of Possible Deaths''"

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections * * * * * * * ''Time Will Clean the Carcass Bones.'' Copper Canyon Press. 2016. ;List of poems

Non-fiction

Fiction

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perillo, Lucia 1958 births 2016 deaths American women poets American writers of Italian descent MacArthur Fellows McGill University alumni The New Yorker people People from Irvington, New York Poets from New York (state) Saint Martin's University faculty Southern Illinois University Carbondale faculty Syracuse University alumni Writers from Olympia, Washington American women academics 21st-century American women