User:Livfooter/Jeanann Verlee

Jeanann Verlee (born in 1975) is an American author, performance poet, editor and activist. Her first book of poems Racing Hummingbirds, published in 2010 received the Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal in Poetry. Verlee also won the Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry. Currently she edits poetry for Union Station Magazine and the Poets Portrait Project Anthology. She tours performing and facilitating workshops across North America.

Life
Born in Denver, Colorado, Verlee studied theatre performance and creative writing. She wrote her first poem at age seven and by age eleven become the youngest winner of Parade Magazine's Young American Ambassadors prize for her essay. By fifteen she nearly completed her first novel but never finished. Also at fifteen, Verlee was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, now a common theme in her poetry. She became the co-author and performer of The Vortex: Conflict, Power, and Choice! a touring company that performed nationally on themes of domestic violence. Currently she edits poetry, coaches poetry slam teams, and since 2010 has curated the Urbana Poetry Slam Series at the Bowery Poetry Club with Taylor Mali, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, and Shappy Seasholtz. Verlee has represented New York City six times with her team "louderARTS Project" at the National Poetry Slam which has made it to the finals several years in a row. She has also been a part of the Urbana Poetry Slam team. Verlee represented NYC-louderARTS at the 2010 Women of the World Poetry Slam. She is a passionate animal rights and humanitarian activist. She has organized and participated in several social actions and letter-writing campaigns. She lives in New York City with her dog and two lovebirds.

Poetry/Performance
Verlee's poetry focuses on themes of mental and physical abuse, relationships, sex, adolescence, and mental illness. She is known for her brutal honesty and the intimacy she creates with her audience.<ref name=Goetzman Many poems, notably 40 Love Letters, evoke a dark humor that mixes with her raw emotion. Verlee skillfully conveys the complexity of living with a mental condition like bipolar disorder in her poems, Good Girl and The Session.

Print

 * Racing Hummingbirds (2010) Write Bloody Publishing

Audio

 * 40 Love Letters Indiefeed
 * The Session Indiefeed
 * Communion Indiefeed
 * Resurrection Indiefeed
 * Brooklyn's Coming Indiefeed
 * Unsolicited Adice to Adolescent Girls with Crooked Teeth and Pink Hair Indiefeed
 * Wait Muzzle Magazine
 * And/Or Ragazine
 * Untruth Ragazine

Awards

 * Winner of the Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry in 2012
 * Silver Metal Independent Publisher Book Award in Poetry in 2010
 * Nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2010
 * NYC-Urbana iWPS Champion in 2009
 * Highest scoring individual poet at the National Poetry Slam Finals in 2008