Millicent Borges Accardi is a

Portuguese-American Portuguese Americans ( pt, português-americanos), also known as Luso-Americans (''luso-americanos''), are citizens and residents of the United States who are connected to the country of Portugal by birth, ancestry, or citizenship. Americans and ...

poet who lives in California. She has received literary fellowships from the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

(NEA), Fulbright, CantoMundo, the

California Arts Council The California Arts Council is a state agency based in Sacramento, United States. Its eight council members are appointed by the Governor and the state Legislature. The agency's mission is to advance California through arts, culture and creativit ...

Foundation for Contemporary Arts The Foundation for Contemporary Arts (FCA), is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City that offers financial support and recognition to contemporary performing and visual artists through awards for artistic innovation and potential. It was ...

, FCA Emergency Grants COVID-19, Barbara Deming Foundation, and Formby Special Collections at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sy ...

for research on the writer/activist Key Boyle. Her book, ''Through a Grainy Landscape'', a collection of poetry based on contemporary Portuguese literature is with ''New Meridian Arts'', 2021. Other poetry collections include ''QUarantine Highway'', (FlowerSong Press), ''Only More So'', (Salmon Poetry, Ireland), ''Injuring Eternity'' with World Nouveau She also has a chapbook, ''Woman on a Shaky Bridge'', with Finishing Line Press. Her articles can be found at ''The Writers Chronicle'', Association of Writers & Writing Programs. ''ACM'' (''

Another Chicago Magazine ''Another Chicago Magazine'' is an American magazine established by Left Field Press, in 1977. Contributors include David Sedaris, Charles Bukowski, Samantha Irby, Ander Monson, Shelley Jackson, Charles Harper Webb, Maxine Chernoff, Kim Addoniz ...

, Poets Quarterly, ''The ''Portuguese American Journal, Portuguese-American Review,'' and ''The Topanga Messenger.'' Interview subjects have included Grammy Director

Michael Greene Michael Harris Greene (November 4, 1933 – January 10, 2020) was an American actor who was active from the 1960s through the 1990s. Career Greene was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Gladys () and Harry Greene. Early in his caree ...

; poets

W.S. Merwin William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) was an American poet who wrote more than fifty books of poetry and prose, and produced many works in translation. During the 1960s anti-war movement, Merwin's unique craft was thema ...

and

Carl Dennis Carl Dennis (born September 17, 1939) is an American poet and educator. His book ''Practical Gods'' won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Life and work Born in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 17, 1939, Dennis attended Oberlin College and the ...

; writers

Frank X. Gaspar Frank Xavier Gaspar is an American poet, novelist and professor of Portuguese descent. A number of his books treat Portuguese-American themes or settings, particularly the Portuguese community in Provincetown, Massachusetts. His most recent novel ...

, Sam Pereira, Jacinto Lucas Pires, Donna Freitas (Sex and the Soul), and Nuno Júdice; Paulette Rapp (daughter of The Bickersons writer),

Stephen Rebello Stephen Rebello is an American writer, screenwriter, journalist and former clinical therapist. Early life Born to parents of third-generation Portuguese American and French American, French-Portuguese American extraction in Fall River, Massachu ...

(Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho), playwright Bill Bozzone, CantoMundo, and Portuguese-American scholar Deolinda Adão. Borges Accardi's work has appeared in over 150 publications, including ''

Nimrod Nimrod (; ; arc, ܢܡܪܘܕ; ar, نُمْرُود, Numrūd) is a biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush and therefore a great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of ...

'', ''

Tampa Review ''Tampa Review'' is a literary magazine produced at The University of Tampa in Tampa, Florida. It was founded in 1964 as the ''Tampa Poetry Review'' and changed to its current name in 1988."Tampa Review wins award series" by Gina Vivinetto, ''St ...

'', ''

New Letters ''New Letters'', the name it has been published under since 1970, is one of the oldest literary magazines in the United States and continues to publish award-winning poems and fiction. The magazine is based in Kansas City, Missouri. History and ...

'' and '' The Wallace Stevens Journal'', as well as in ''Boomer Girls'' (Iowa Press) and ''Chopin with Cherries'' (Moonrise Press) anthologies. Artist residencies include

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

, Jentel, Vermont Studio, Fundación Valparaíso in Mojacar, Milkwood in

Český Krumlov Český Krumlov (; german: Krumau, , or ''Böhmisch Krumau'') is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The historic centre with the Český Krumlov Castle complex is protected by law as an urban monument reservation, and sin ...

, CZ and Disquiet in Lisbon, Portugal. She received degrees in English and literature from California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), holds a Masters in Professional Writing from the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

(USC). She was named after the '' Millicent Library'' in Fairhaven, MA. Borges Accardi also works as a freelance writer (technical writing and instructional design).

Reading series

In 2012, Millicent Accardi started the "Kale Soup for the Soul" reading series featuring Portuguese-American writers. The first edition was in Chicago at the famous

Chicago Cultural Center The Chicago Cultural Center, opened in 1897, is a Chicago Landmark building operated by Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events that houses the city's official reception venue where the Mayor of Chicago has welcomed presid ...

. Since then, "Kale Soup for the Soul" readings have featured over 25 different writers, in regional readings in cities such as San Francisco, Seattle, Iowa City, Providence, Rhode Island, Boston and San José—as part of a new wave of Portuguese-American Literature. In 2013, there were "Kale Soup for the Soul" readings at the Mass Poetry Festival in Salem, the Valente Library in Cambridge, and the Portuguese Consulate in Boston. There were also readings at Brown University, UMass Dartmouth, and Rhode Island College as well as workshops with local students from Shea high school in Rhode Island (80 students in attendance). There was a conference in Lisbon which featured a panel about Portuguese-American Literature as well as a round table with many of the writers who have participated in "Kale Soup for the Soul".

Works

Poetry collections: * ''Quarantine Highway'' (FlowerSong Press 2022) * ''Through a Grainy Landscape'' (New Meridian Arts Press, 2021) * ''Only More So'' (Salmon Poetry, 2016) * ''Injuring Eternity'' (Mischievous Muse Press, December, 2010) Chapbooks: * ''Woman on a Shaky Bridge'' (Finishing Line Press, 2010)

Awards

2020: Foundation for Contemporary Arts FCA in New York, (Covid grant)
2015: Fulbright Fellowship for Poetry
2013: US@PT travel grant from Fundação Luso-Americanato (FLAD)
2014/2012: Center for Cultural Innovation, Creative Capacity Quick Grant
2011/2012: CantoMundo Fellowship * CantoMundo Fellows 2010: Formby Fellowship, Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
2003: California Arts Council Grant for Poetry
2002: Barbara Deming Foundation
1998: Alden B. Dow Fellowship (unable to attend)
1997-98: National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship for Poetry
1992: Elizabethe Kempthorne Endowment for Creative Writing at USC
1991: State of California Pre-Doctoral Grant

Memberships

MLA
American Portuguese Studies Association
PEN/America
Associated Writing Programs Associate
Portuguese-American Women's Association
CantoMundo
USC Alumni Association
Society for Technical Communication

References

External links

Author website

Profile at Poetry Foundation

Woman on a Shaky Bridge - by Millicent Borges Accardi
Review by Robert Manaster, Rattle, June 5, 2010
The Human Experience
Review by Georgia Ann Banks-Martin in Her Circle EZine, April, 2010

by Jara Jones, June 2010

2010
Review in Poets Quarterly by Joan Hana
Issue 4, winter 2010

Fall 2009
Review
in ''New York Journal of Books'' by David Cooper, Jan. 1, 2010
To the Other Side and Back Again: Millicent Borges Accardi’s Woman on a Shaky Bridge
Review by Chris Crawford, June 2010

Aug. 27, 2010 * Hiram Poetry Review Issue #72 (June 2011) by Kathi Stafford
Review of Injuring Eternity
Gifts of Dawn, May 2011 Review by Linda Scott * Review of Woman on a Shaky Bridge by Reinaldo Silva, Ph.D.Dept. Línguas e Culturas, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
The Compulsive Reader
April 2011 by Sheri Fresonke Harper

June 2011 by Meg Harris

June 2011 by Mike Northern
New Mirage
July 2011 by Linda Benninghoff * Review of Injuring Eternity in The Poetry Kit UK, by Lesley Burt, June 2011
Portuguese-American Literature Bibliography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Accardi, Millicent Borges American women poets Date of birth missing (living people) Living people National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Poets from California People from Topanga, California Writers from Long Beach, California American people of Portuguese descent California State University, Long Beach alumni University of Southern California alumni 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers Wilson Classical High School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)