Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon (born 1971) is an American poet. In 2009, she was a
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors.
The Nat ...
finalist for her book, ''Open Interval''.
Career
Van Clief-Stefanon earned her BA in English from
Washington and Lee University
, mottoeng = "Not Unmindful of the Future"
, established =
, type = Private liberal arts university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.092 billion (2021)
, president = William C. Dudley
, provost = Lena Hill
, city = Lexingto ...
in 1996, and her MFA in Poetry from
Penn State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...
in 1999. She published her first full-length collection, ''Black Swan'' (University of Pittsburgh Press), in 2001, for which she won the Cave Canem Prize and was a finalist for the 2003 Patterson Poetry Prize.
In July 2004, she became an assistant professor at Cornell University in English Literature.
In June 2008, Van Clief-Stefanon co-authored the chapbook ''Poems in Conversation and a Conversation'' with Elizabeth Alexander. In April 2009, Van Clief-Stefanon published her second poetry collection, '']Open Interval['', which was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Van Clief-Stefanon's work has appeared in ''African American Review'','' Callaloo'','' Crab Orchard Review'', ''Gulf Coast'', and ''Shenandoah'', among other places.
She is currently working on a third book, ''The Coal Tar Colors''.
References
1971 births
Living people
American women poets
21st-century American poets
Washington and Lee University alumni
Pennsylvania State University alumni
21st-century American women writers
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