JANET HOLMES
Department of English
Boise State University
Boise, ID 83725-1525
Office phone: (208) 426-3134
FAX: (208) 426-4373
Email: jholmes@boisestate.edu
Website: http://www.boisestate.edu/english/jholmes
EDUCATION
MFA in Poetry
Warren Wilson College — 1985 — Swannanoa, North Carolina
Creative Thesis: “Other Longevities: A Manuscript of Poems”
Director, 2003-2006
BA in English
Duke University — 1976 Magna cum laude — Durham, NC
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Boise State University
Department of English
Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing
Director, 2003-2004
Associate Professor (3/04 to present)
Assistant Professor (8/99-2/04)
8/95-6/98 University of Minnesota: Instructor, Affiliated Faculty Appointment
8/95-6/98 Macalester College: Lecturer
1/85 Warren Wilson College: Graduate lecturer
PUBLICATIONS
Books
F2f (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2006).
Humanophone (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001).
The Green Tuxedo (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1998). Winner of the Ernest Sandeen Prize in Poetry. Selected by John Matthias.
The Physicist at the Mall (Tallahassee, FL: Anhinga Press, 1994). Published as the 1993 Anhinga Prize winner. Selected by Joy Harjo.
Paperback Romance (Pittsford, NY: State Street Press, 1984), winner of the State Street Press chapbook contest. (Published under former name, Janet Holmes Stanford.)
Book awaiting publication
The ms of my kin, a book-length sequence of poems.
Poems in Journals
1913, American Poetry Review, Antaeus, Beloit Poetry Journal, Boulevard, Carolina Quarterly, Georgia Review, Gutcult, Michigan Quarterly Review, MiPoesias, Nimrod, Notre Dame Review, Pleiades, Poetry, Poetry Daily (www), Poetry International, Practice, Prairie Schooner, Quarterly West, "The Writer's Almanac" (radio), and others
Poems in Anthologies
“Neons.” Housesitting, Eds. Ron Mohring and Deirdre O’Connor, in process.
"Mediterranean Cooking for Two." Poetry Daily: 366 Poems from the World's Most Popular Poetry Website, Eds. Dianne Boller, Don Selby, and Chryss Yost. Naperville, IL: Sourcebooks, 2003.
“My Mother’s Clown.” Are You Experienced?: Baby Boom Poets at Midlife, Eds. Pamela Gemin and Paula Sergi, University of Iowa Press, forthcoming.
“The Green Tuxedo.” Like Thunder: Poets Respond to Violence in America. Eds. Ryan G. Van Cleave and Virgil Suarez. Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2002, 92-94.
“Depressive Episode,” “Fantasie Metropolitan,” and “Whistle.” The Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women. Eds. Susan Aizenberg and Erin Belieu. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001, 169-172.
“Partch Stations.” A Fine Excess: Fifty Years of the Beloit Poetry Journal. Ed. Marion K. Stocking. Lamoine, ME: Beloit Poetry Journal Foundation, Inc., 2000, 361-373.
“Against the Literal,” “The Erotics of Detail,” “My Mother's Clown,” and “Paperback Romance.” EyeDialect, Ed. R.J. McCaffrey. Fall 1999. <http://www.contemporarypoetry.com/index.htm>
“Depressive Episode.” Outsiders. Ed. Laure-Anne Bosselaar. St. Paul: Milkweed Editions, 1999, 122.
“Chez Persephone.” Orpheus and Company. Ed. Deborah de Nicola. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England, 1999, 154.
“Cinquains for Rocky.” Poetry: A Longman Pocket Anthology. 2nd ed. Ed. R.S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 1998, 339.
“The Pattern.” Verse and Universe. Ed. Kurt Brown. St. Paul: Milkweed Editions, 1998, 280.
“The Bachelor's House,” “The Blue World,” “Florida 1985,” “My Mother's Clown,” and “Why.” Gravity's Loophole. St. Paul: The Loft, 1997, 44-52.
“Against the Literal.” The Best American Poetry 1995. Ed. Richard Howard and David Lehman. New York: Scribner, 1995, 103.
“A Love Song from the Chimayó Landfill (Una Canción Amor Desde el Basurero de Chimayó),” “The Miracle As I See It (El Milagro Como Yo Lo Veo),” “Walking the Dogs on Horse Mesa (Paseando los Perros en la Mesa Caballo),” “Instinct (Instinto),” and “Stars. Wild Land (Estrellas. Tierra Salvaje).” ¡Saludos!: Poemas de Nuevo Mexico/Poems of New Mexico, Ed. Jeanie C. Williams and Victor di Suvero, trans. ed. Consuelo Luz. Santa Fe, NM: Pennywhistle Press, 1995, 142-153.
“The Love of the Flesh.” The Best American Poetry 1994. Ed. A.R. Ammons and David Lehman. New York: Scribner, 1994, 83-85.
“Pastoral.” The Forgotten Language. Ed. Christopher Merrill. Salt Lake City, UT: Peregrine Smith Books, 1991, 77.
“A Love Song from the Chimayó Landfill.” Chester H. Jones Foundation National Poetry Competition Winners 1991. Ed. Madeline DeFrees, William Stafford, and Diane Wakoski. Cleveland: Chester H. Jones Foundation, 1991, 9.
“Aviary at Oaxaca.” The State Street Reader. Ed. Judith Kitchen. Pittsford, NY: State Street Press, 1990, 42.
“Aviary.” The Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry 1985.
Reviews
“ForeSight Poetry: Delight and Instruct [a composite review of Muse, by Susan Aizenberg; The Self as Constellation, by Jeanine Hathaway; Commons, by Myung Mi Kim; A Visit to Civilization, by Sandra McPherson; The Caged Owl: New and Selected Poems, by Gregory Orr; The High Sierra of California, by Gary Snyder and Tom Killion; and Spirit Cabinet, by David Wojahn].” ForeWord 5:3 (May-June 2002): 34.
“Spar.” Rev. of Spar by Karen Volkman. ForeWord 5:3, p. 59.
“Bearing Witness: Poetry by Teachers About Teaching.” Rev. of Bearing Witness: Poetry by Teachers About Teaching, ed. Margaret Hatcher. ForeWord 5:1 (January-February 2002): 44.
“In the Spotlight: New Poetry Series [a composite review of Air, Waters, Places, by Bin Ramke; Such Rich Hour by Cole Swensen; and The Keep, by Emily Wilson].” ForeWord 4:6 (November-December 2001): 35.
“Unsleeping.” Rev. of Unsleeping by Michael Burkard. ForeWord 4:6 (November-December 2001): 46.
“The Salt Hour.” Rev. of The Salt Hour by J.P. White. ForeWord 4:5 (September-October 2001): 55.
“Spring Poetry Books [a composite review of Carver: A Life in Poems, by Marilyn Nelson; The Tormented Mirror, by Russell Edson; Misery Prefigured, by J. Allyn Rosser; Radio, Radio: Poems, by Ben Doyle; Saving Lives: Poems, by Albert Goldbarth; Shiny Pencils at the Edge of Things: New and Selected, by Dick Gallup; Queen for a Day, by Denise Duhamel; Pleasure Dome: New and Collected Poems, by Yusef Komunyakaa; The Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry by American Women, ed. Susan Aizenberg and ErinBelieu; and American Diaspora: Poetry of Displacement, ed. Virgil Suarez and Ryan G. Van Cleave].” ForeWord 4:3 (March 2001): 22-27.
“Echolocations.” Rev. of Echolocations by Diane Thiel. ForeWord 3:11 (November 2000): 51.
“Brace's Cove..” Rev. of Brace's Cove by Joseph Featherstone. ForeWord 3:10 (October 2000): 56.
“Wild Sweet Notes.” Rev. of Wild Sweet Notes, ed. Barbara Smith and Kirk Judd. ForeWord 3:9 (September 2000): 67.
“Tell Me.” Rev. of Tell Me by Kim Addonizio. ForeWord 3:7 (July 2000): 41.
“The Selected Poems of Janet Lewis.” Rev. of The Selected Poems of Janet Lewis, ed. R.L. Barth, ForeWord 3:6 (June 2000): 73.
“Cowboy Poetry Matters.” Rev. of Cowboy Poetry Matters: From Abilene to the Mainstream, ed. Robert McDowell. ForeWord 3:5 (May 2000): 73.
“The Dumbbell Nebula.” Rev. of The Dumbbell Nebula by Steve Kowit. ForeWord 3:4 (April 2000): 48-49.
“Protocol for Touch.” Rev. of Protocol for Touch by Constance Merritt. ForeWord 3:2 (February 2000): 65-66.
“David Wojahn's The Falling Hour.” Rev. of The Falling Hour by David Wojahn. Crania 4. (Winter 1998).
“Wendy Battin's Little Apocalypse.“ Rev. of Little Apocalypse by Wendy Battin. Crania 4. (Winter 1998).
“(divine)(s)electeds.” Rev. of il cuore: the heart: New and Selected Poems by Kathleen Fraser, An Octave Above Thunder by Carol Muske, and Roots in the Air by Shirley Kaufman. Hungry Mind Review 44 (1997): 36.
“Praise Song.” Rev. of With a Moon in Transit by Jacqueline Osherow and Music Minus One by Jane Shore. Hungry Mind Review 41 (1997): 38.
“How the Light Gets In.” Rev. of The Crack in Everything, by Alicia Ostriker. Hungry Mind Review 39 (1996): 28.
“Probing the Cloud of the Nuclear Threat.” Rev. of Writing in a Nuclear Age, ed. Jim Schley, and Nuke-Rebuke, ed. Morty Sklar. New Letters Review of Books 1.1 (1987): 6-7.
“Flash, Tenderness & Pop.” Rev. of Flash Paper by Theresa Pappas, Ongoing Portraits by Walter Pavlich, and Death of the Plankton Bar & Grill, by Kathryn Nocerino. New Letters Review of Books 2.1 (1988): 10.
Critical Articles
“Read Me This Way: Poetic Sequence and Consequence.“ Marlboro Review (Summer/Fall 1997): 23-37.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Collaborations
Strickland, Stephanie and Janet Holmes. “The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot.” Word Circuits, Oct. 1999, <http://www.wordcircuits.com/gallery/sandsoot>.
Strickland, Stephanie. “Seven League Boots: Poetry, Science and Hypertext.” Electronic Book Review 7, Summer 1998, <http://altx.com/ebr/ebr7/ebr7.htm>. Janet Holmes and Paul Friedlander, collaborators.
“Where the Hands Go, the Eyes Follow.” Collaborative performance with Ranee Ramaswamy (choreographer), Howard Levy (composer/musician), Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, Mary Easter, Jane Hirshfield, Janet Holmes, and Jim Moore (poets). Commissioned by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, and performed May 16-18, 1998, at the Walker Art Center, and again May 30, 1998, at Carleton College, Northfield, MN.
Paper Presentations at Professional Meetings
"Anyone Can Write Anything Nowadays: Pla(y)giarism, Theft, and the Pleasures of the Text." Associated Writing Programs Conference, Vancouver, BC. March 2005.
"Reviewing Reviewing." Associated Writing Programs Conference, Chicago, IL. March 2004.
“The Varied Carol: Poetry and Music.” Associated Writing Programs Conference, New Orleans, LA. March 2002.
“Poetry as Artmaking.” Pedagogical talk, Warren Wilson Alumni Writers' Conference, Asheville, NC. 29 June 2001.
“Getting Carried Away: Research and Obsession in the Poetic Sequence.” Associated Writing Programs Conference, Palm Springs, CA. 21 April 2001.
“Differing Digital Strategies in Hypertext Writing” (Panel chair). Associated Writing Programs Conference, Kansas City, MO. 1 April 2000.
“The trAce Workshop Experience: The Ballad of Sand and Harry Soot.” Digital Arts and Culture '99, Atlanta, GA. 29 Oct. 1999.
“The Writer-Ghost in the Machine.” Associated Writing Programs Conference, Albany, NY. 17 Apr. 1999.
Editing
Director, editor, designer, typographer, Ahsahta Press, Fall 2000-present.
Little Ease by Aaron McCollough, Ann Arbor, MI. September 2007.
case sensitive by Kate Greenstreet, Belford, NJ. September 2007.
Quarantine by Brian Henry, Richmond, VA. March 2006.
67 Mixed Messages by Ed Allen, Vermillion, SD. January 2006.
Knowledge, Forms, the Aviary by Karla Kelsey, Susquehanna, PA. January 2006.
The Violence by Ethan Paquin, Buffalo, NY. September 2005.
Fence Above the Sea by Brigitte Byrd, Tallahassee, FL. September 2005.
Oriflamme by Sandra Miller, Iowa City, IA. March 2005.
The Area of Sound Called the Subtone by Noah Eli Gordon, Amherst, MA. December 2004.
Cur aliquid vidi by Lance Phillips, Charlotte, NC. December 2004.
[redesigned reprint] Women Writers of the West, ed. Tom Trusky. October 2004.
Island by Charles O. Hartman, Mystic, CT. October 2004.
Saving the Appearances by Liz Waldner, Oakland, CA. August 2004.
Spell by Dan Beachy-Quick, Chicago, IL, March 2004.
Leave the Room to Itself by Graham Foust, Des Moines, IA, December 2003.
Forbidden City by Peggy Hamilton, Pompano Beach, FL, September 2003.
[redesigned reprint] Underground by Corrinne Hales, Fresno, CA, March 2003.
Dear, Read by Lisa Fishman, Beloit, WI, December 2002.
Drinking Girls and Their Dresses by Heather Sellers, Holland, MI, November 2002.
Welkin by Aaron McCollough, Ann Arbor, MI, September 2002.
Corpus Socius by Lance Phillips, Charlotte, NC, May 2002.
Esse by David Mutschlecner, Los Alamos, NM, February 2002.
Fictional Teeth by Linda Dyer, San Francisco, CA, May 2001.
[redesigned reprint] Chopstix Numbers by Craig Cotter, Los Angeles, CA.
[redesigned reprint] The Widow's Coat by Miriam Sagan, Santa Fe, NM.
Associate editor, Crania (online literary magazine), Summer 1997-Spring 2001.
Professional Consulting
Participant, Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses Roundtable on University-affiliated presses (publication forthcoming as a CLMP monograph), Fall 2004.
Judge, Writing Panel, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) scholarships, Madison, WI, 2001, 2002.
Judge, Davenport Awards in Poetry, Knox College, Galesburg, IL, May 2001.
Judge, Tupelo Press Poetry Prize, September 2000.
Judge, Penumbra Poetry Contest, July 2000.
Judge, Poetry Book of the Year, ForeWord, February 2000.
Judge, Weisman Museum/University of Minnesota Poetry Competition, 1998.
Judge, University of Minnesota Academy of American Poets Prize, 1995.
Poetry Readings
Over 90 readings in forty states since 1994.
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
Academy of American Poets
Associated Writing Programs
Technology Committee, 1999-2000.
Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses
Modern Language Association
Poetry Society of America
GRANTS
Council of Literary Magazines and Small Presses National Literary Mentorship grant, to work with Michael Wiegers, Executive Editor of Copper Canyon Press, on marketing issues for Ahsahta Press, 2004-2005.
McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers (Loft Award in Poetry), 1997. $10,000. For support of creative projects, including manuscript-in-progress “Humanophone.”
Loft Minnesota Writers Career Initiative Grant (poetry), Jerome Foundation, 1997. $8,000. This grant made possible a year-long reading tour to colleges and universities across the country that would not otherwise have been able to pay travel costs.
Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, 1996. $6,000. For support of creative projects, including manuscript-in-progress “Humanophone.”
Bush Foundation Artist's Fellowship (poetry), 1993. $24,000. For support of creative projects, including manuscript-in-progress “The Green Tuxedo.” Also $7,000 for purchase of technical equipment (computer, printer, and peripherals).
Minnesota State Arts Board Grant, 1992. $6,000. For support of creative projects, including manuscript-in-progress “The Green Tuxedo.”
AWARDS
“Humanophone,” Pushcart Prize XXVI: Best of the Small Presses nomination, Donald Revell, 2001.
“Lake Superior, Summer,” Pushcart Prize XXV: Best of the Small Presses nomination, Cider Press Review, 2000.
“Partch Stations,” Chad Walsh Poetry Prize, Beloit Poetry Journal, 1999.
The Green Tuxedo, Minnesota Book Award, 1999.
The Green Tuxedo, Poetry Book of the Year, ForeWord Magazine, 1998.
“Humanophone,” “Whistle,” and “Celebration on the Planet Mars,” first place, the Pablo Neruda Awards, Nimrod magazine, selected by W.S. Merwin, 1997.
The Green Tuxedo, Ernest Sandeen Prize in Poetry, University of Notre Dame Press, selected by John Matthias, 1996.
“Against the Literal“ selected for Best American Poetry 1995, editor Richard Howard.
The Physicist at the Mall finalist, Minnesota Book Award, 1995.
“The Love of the Flesh“ selected for Best American Poetry 1994, editor A.R. Ammons.
The Physicist at the Mall, Anhinga Prize, Anhinga Press, selected by Joy Harjo, 1993.
Commendation, Chester H. Jones Foundation, National Poetry Competition 1991.
Fellow, MacDowell Artists' Colony, March-April 1989.
Fellow, Yaddo Artists' Colony, November-December 1986.
Paperback Romance, State Street Press Chapbook Award, 1984.
REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS
King, Amy. "MiPoesias" (website: http://www.odeo.com/audio/445853/view), 24 November 2005.
Phillips, Lance. “Here Comes Everybody” (website: http://www.herecomeseverybody.com),
29 June 2004.
Daly, Catherine. “Humanophone.” Boston Review (April–May 2002).
“Editors Select.” Notre Dame Review 13 (Winter 2002): 175–176.
Steinman, Lisa. “Poetic Patchworks [an essay-review of Humanophone by Janet Holmes, The Paintings of Our Lives by Grace Schulman, and Alluvial by Katherine Soniat].” The Women's Review of Books 14.2 (November 2001): 11-13.
Welsch, Camille-Yvette. “Humanophone.” ForeWord 4.6 (Fall 2001): 44–45.
Olson, Ray. “Holmes, Janet. Humanophone.” Booklist 1 August 2001.
Johnson, Halvard. “Janet Holmes: The Green Tuxedo.” Valpariso Review 2.2 (Spring 2001): http://www.valpo.edu/english/vpr/johnsonreviewholmes.html.
Brown, Janelle. “Holmes: Poet Finds Inspiration in Everyday Life.” Focus Magazine 25.4 (Summer 2000): 22.
Flagg, Marianne. “Writing Life: New BSU poetry professor uses language to make links where no links exist.” The Idaho Statesman 13 October 1999, sec. E:1.
Odell, Jere. “The Green Tuxedo.“ Samizdat (Winter 1999): 15-16.
Figg, Melanie. “What Lies Beneath.” Quarterly West 47 (1998-1999): 186-192.
Rawson, Josie. “The Green Tuxedo.” Rain Taxi (April 1998): 33.
Grover, J. Z. “Waxing Boolean.” Twin Cities Reader 22.35 (1996): 21.
Howe, Susan Elizabeth. “Deflecting Desire.” Tar River Poetry 34.1 (1994): 50.
Kitchen, Judith. “Inner Worlds [an essay-review of Do Not Peel the Birches, by Fleda Brown Jackson; The Physicist at the Mall, by Janet Holmes; Before Our Eyes, by Lawrence Joseph; The City of Women, A Sequence of Poems and Prose, by Sherod Santos; and Moss Burning, by Marianne Boruch].” The Georgia Review 48 (1994): 584.
Cook, Devan. “The Physicist at the Mall': The poetry of everyday life.” The Tallahassee Democrat 6 November 1994, sec. E: 9.
McFee, Michael. “The Physicist at the Mall.” Duke Magazine 81.1 (1994): 50-51.
Grossman, Mary Ann. “Ordinary experiences are the stuff of poetry.” Saint Paul Pioneer Press 20 March 1994, sec. E: 7.
SERVICE
University Service
Program Level: Director, MFA Program in Creative Writing, 2003-2004.
Department Level: Faculty Affairs Committee, 2000-2004.
Judge, Sigma Tau Delta poetry conference, 2002.
Search Committee, Visiting Writer, 2001–2002.
English Majors Association Brown Bag Lunch (lecture), 14 November 2001.
Department Representative, Discover Boise State, 3 October 2001.
Search Committee, poetry position, 1999-2000.
Search Committee, Visiting Writer, 1999-2000.
Creative Writing Subcommittee, 1999-2002.
University Level: Women's Center Board faculty representative, 2003-2005.
Distinguished Lecture Series Committee, faculty representative, 2000-2002.
Writers and Readers Rendezvous Planning Committee, Boise State University Extended Studies, 2000-2001.
Graduate Council member, Spring 2000.
Professionally Related Community Service
Board member, Log Cabin Literary Center, 2003-2009.
BookFest Planning Committee, Log Cabin Literary Center, 2000-2001.
Board representative, Log Cabin Literary Center, winter-spring 2000.
Fifth Annual Celebration of Women in the Arts (benefit for the Women and Children's Alliance Crisis Center), Boise, ID, 2 December 1999.