Liza Porter
Poet ~ Essayist
LIZA PORTER
Tucson Arizona
520-891-9707 / lizaporter1@aol.com
PUBLICATIONS
Prose
“Skar,” essay, The Write Launch, June 2020
“Mugshot,” essay, Bending Genres, Summer 2020
“Esther of the Hearts,” short story, The Write Launch, May 2020
"There will be falling," 2019, Brevity
"June 21st," personal essay, 2018, Essay Daily
"Reconstructing," personal essay, 2016, PRISM International
“How to Survive the Dinner Table,” personal essay, 2015, Chautauqua, (Notable Essay, Best American Essays 2016)
“Labyrinth,” hybrid (poetry and prose) personal essay, 2014, Passages North (Notable Essay, Best American Essays 2015)
“Battling the Books” (series) (Aztec Press, Fall 2010); aztecpressonline.com
“Depression: Talking Back to the Big D,” Aztec Press, Spring 2010 (2010 National Finalist, Mark of Excellence Award,
Society of Professional Journalists), aztecpressonline.com
“Going Back: Moving Forward” Aztec Press, Fall 2009 (2009 National Finalist, Mark of Excellence Award,
Society of Professional Journalists)
“Down the Tracks: Bruce Springsteen Sang to Me,” in Poets on Prozac: Mental Illness, Treatment, and the Creative
Process (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008)
“In Plainview,” Cimarron Review, 2005 (Notable Essay, Best American Essays 2006)
“In Search of the Thickest Towel,” Hotel Amerika, 2005
“Standing in the Dark,” Concho River Review, 2005
Audio-Video
Mary Ann Campau Memorial Fellowship Reading, University of Arizona Poetry Center, March 25, 2010;
http://voca.arizona.edu/readings-list/257
Interview on "Arizona Spotlight,” https://radio.azpm.org/p/azspot/2010/3/19/azspotlight-liza-porter/
Poetry
“To Joy Harjo on the Radio from New Mexico,” 2020, The Red Wheelbarrow Review.
“The day my brother meets Bob Dylan …” Visiting Bob: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Bob Dylan (New Rivers Press: Morehood, MN November 2018).
Red Stain, Finishing Line Press, 2014.
Poems in Visiting Bob: Poems Inspired by the Life and Work of Bob Dylan (New Rivers Press: 2018); What Wildness is This: Women Write about the Southwest (University of Texas Press: Austin), 2007; Cobalt Review, The MacGuffin, AGNI, The Ilanot Review, 2River View, The Progressive, Barrow Street, Diner, The Worcester Review, HazMat Review, The Chrysalis Reader, The Pedestal Magazine, and other literary magazines.
AWARDS AND GRANTS
Finalist, Narrative Nonfiction Book Prize, Faulkner-Wisdom Creative Writing Competition, Faulkner Society (Bruce Springsteen Sang to Me), 2018.
Finalist, Masters Workshop in Creative Nonfiction for “Breathing Salvation,” Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards, 2018
Semi-Finalist, 2016 Two Sylvias Press Wilder Series Poetry Book Prize (Rape Register), 2016
Honorable Mention, 42nd Nonfiction Prize, New Millennium Writings (essay “Reconstructing”), 2016
First Runner Up, Nonfiction Contest, PRISM International, 2016 (“Reconstructing”), 2016
Semi-Finalist, Cleveland State University Poetry Center Open Book Poetry Competition (Rape Register), 2016
Notable Essay, Best American Essays, 2016 (“Labyrinth,” Passages North, 2015).
Finalist, Arizona/New Mexico Book Award (Red Stain, poetry chapbook, Finishing Line Press, 2014).
Finalist, WILLA Award, Women Writing the West (Red Stain, poetry chapbook, Finishing Line Press, 2014)
Finalist, Gabriela Mistral Poetry Prize, “Blue Gloves, Stars,” Cobalt Review, 2014.
Semi-Finalist, Press 53 Award for Poetry, poetry book contest, The story of a body, 2014.
Semi-Finalist, Washington Prize (Word Works Press) poetry book contest, The story of a body, 2014.
Finalist, Santa Fe Writers Workshop Nonfiction Book Prize: Down the Tracks, 2013.
Honorable Mention, nonfiction, “Labyrinth,” New Millennium Writings 35th Awards, Fall 2013.
Honorable Mention, poetry, “Urgent Care,” New Millennium Writings 35th Awards, Fall 2013.
Finalist, Masters Workshop in Poetry, Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards, 2013.
Finalist, “Labyrinth,” hybrid personal essay, Lamar York Prize for Nonfiction, Chattahoochee Review, 2013.
2nd Place, Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Award, 2012.
1st Place, Blue Mountain Arts Poetry Award, 2010.
2009 Mary Ann Campau Memorial Fellowship, University of Arizona Poetry Center; http://voca.arizona.edu/readings-list/257
National Finalist, 2009 and 2010 Mark of Excellence Awards, Society of Professional Journalists, articles in Aztec Press.
Pima Community College Chancellor’s Recognition Award in honor of Mary Ann Campau Memorial Fellowship award, 2010.
Professional Development Grants, Arizona Commission on the Arts, for Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of NM residencies, 2009, 2006.
Notable Essay, Best American Essays 2006 (“In Plainview” Cimarron Review, 2005).
Honorable Mention, Tucson Poetry Festival Statewide Poetry Contest, 2005
Finalist, Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award, “In Plainview,” Salem College, NC, 2003
SELECTED PROJECTS/READINGS
EDGE Reading Series, Casa Libre en la Solana, Tucson, January 2015, invitational
Poetry Celebration, Antigone Books, Tucson, October 31, 2014, invitational
Mary Ann Campau Memorial Fellowship Reading, University of Arizona Poetry Center, March 25, 2010;
http://voca.arizona.edu/readings-list/257
Other Voices Women’s Reading Series, founder/director, Antigone book store, Tucson, 2002-2012
EDGE Reading Series, featured reader, Casa Libre en la Solana, Tucson, 2011, invitational
Lamplight Reading Series, featured reader, Tucson, 2008, 2004, 2003, 1999, invitational
Summer Solstice Reading—poetic response to visual art, University of Arizona Museum of Art, 2004, group reading, invitational
Poetic Vistas—poetic response to landscape art, Tucson Museum of Art, 2004, group reading, invitational
Anijam—collaborative poem, Tucson Poetry Festival, 2003, group performance, commissioned
Buddha Form—poetic response to visual art, Dinnerware Gallery, Tucson, 2003, group reading, invitational
RESIDENCIES
Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico, Taos, NM, 2009, 2006 & 2002, juried
Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Woodside, CA, 2012, 2004 & 1999, juried
Hedgebrook Retreat for Women Writers, Whidbey Island, WA, 1998, juried
EDUCATION
Creative Nonfiction Magazine online writer's studio program, 2013-present
Stanford University Continuing Studies Online Writing Studio 2011-2015
UCLA Extension Online Writer’s Program, 2012-2013
Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ, journalism, 2008-2010
Pima Community College, Tucson, AZ, creative writing courses, 1994-2015
Lane Community College, Eugene, OR, music, 1979-80
University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, women’s studies, 1977-1979