Constance Merritt is 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 wri ...

. Born in

Pine Bluff, Arkansas Pine Bluff is the eleventh-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combin ...

, in 1966, and educated at the Arkansas School for the Blind in

Little Rock ( The "Little Rock") , government_type = Council-manager , leader_title = Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_party = D , leader_title2 = Council , leader_name2 ...

. She is also the winner of the

Vassar Miller Vassar Miller (July 19, 1924 – October 31, 1998) was an American writer and poet. She served as Poet Laureate of Texas (1988-1989). Biography Miller was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of real estate investor Jesse G. Miller. She began wri ...

Prize in Poetry and a finalist for the

William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams (September 17, 1883 – March 4, 1963) was an American poet, writer, and physician closely associated with modernism and imagism. In addition to his writing, Williams had a long career as a physician practicing both pedia ...

Book Award.NCW-Constance Merritt
In 2001, Merritt received the

Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award The Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award was an award given annually to beginning women writers. Established in 1995 by American author Rona Jaffe, the Foundation offers grants to writers of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. The award wa ...

and a fellowship from the

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University—also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute—is a part of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts, a ...

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 high ...

. From 2003 to 2005, Merritt served as the Margaret Banister Writer-in-Residence at Sweet Briar College. In 2005 she received Arkansas's

Porter Prize The Porter Prize, established in 1984 by the non-profit organization known as the Porter Fund Literary Prize, is awarded annually to a writer who has created a substantial body of work and has a significant connection with Arkansas. The $5000 prize ...

. Merritt lives in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

Education

Besides attending the School for the Blind, Constance Merritt attended the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, where she received her B.A and M.A. She then attended the University of Nebraska, in Lincoln, where she received her PhD in creative writing. Also at the University of Louisville, Kentucky; Merritt attended and received her M.S. in social work.

Volunteer work

Constance Merritt, and wife Maria Accardi, decided to help start a non-profit for low-income people who cannot leave their home, Bringing Justice Home founded in 2020, helps bring food and household supplies to individuals who are homebound during the pandemic. She currently plays the role of treasurer in this organization, which serves to provide food that people actually want and not just need “rejecting the idea that beggars can’t be choosers” (Maria Accardi from WDRB interview). Their goals include creating just relationships, fighting food insecurity, and providing resources to those in need of them.

Collections of poems

Merritt is the author of four collections of poems: ''Blind Girl Grunt: The Selected Blues Lyrics and Other Poems'' (Sequim, WA, Headmistress Press, 2017),''Two Rooms'' (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2009), ''Blessings and Inclemencies'' (Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 2007) and ''A Protocol for Touch'' (Denton: UNT Press, 2000). * Two Rooms: Poems: Louisiana State University Press, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merritt, Constance 1966 births Living people Sweet Briar College faculty People from Pine Bluff, Arkansas Radcliffe fellows American women poets Poets from Arkansas Writers from Louisville, Kentucky Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award winners 21st-century American poets American women academics 21st-century American women writers