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Photo of Beth Ann Fennelly (courtesy
of Fennelly) by Maude Schuyler Clay Biography of
Beth Ann Fennelly Beth Ann Fennelly was born on May 21, 1971, in New Jersey but
grew up in Lake Forest, Illinois. She obtained her B.A.
magna cum laude in 1993 from the University of Notre Dame. After
graduation, Fennelly taught English in a coal mining village
on the Czech/Polish border. When she returned to the States,
she earned the M.F.A. degree in poetry from the University of
Arkansas. She then received the 1999 Diane Middlebrook
Fellowship from the University of Wisconsin. She was also
the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Grant. She became
an Assistant Professor of English and taught poetry at Knox
College in Galesburg, Illinois. Her chapbook A
Different Kind of Hunger, published by the Texas Review
Press, won the 1997 Texas Review Breakthrough Award.
Her Her husband of five years, Tom Franklin, is also a fiction writer, and together they have a daughter Claire. Currently, Beth Ann Fennelly resides in Oxford, Mississippi, where she is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Mississippi. Her advice for future writers is, "It is of the utmost importance to read constantly, and read aloud. I tell that to my students all the time. There’s not a lot that can help them get better quicker than reading poetry aloud, their own and others’ everyday." In December, 2002, Beth Ann Fennelly was among only thirty-eight
writers to receive the National Endowment for the Arts
Grant. Hers is a notable Creative Writing Fellowship
in Poetry. There were 1600 applicants and each of the
28 winning fellows receives $20,000. Fennelly will
use the award to help her put the final touches on Tender
Hooks. She is quoted in the Clarion-Ledger
as saying that the book "takes on the subje Photo above courtesy of Beth Ann Fennelly: Fennelly, husband Tom Franklin, and daughter Claire in 2002 2008 UPDATE: Since the above was written,
Beth ann Fennelly has published Great with Child:
Letters to a Young Mother and in April 2008 -------------------------------------------------------
Interview with
Beth Ann Fennelly by Katherine Montgomery (SHS) 2002
1. Where were you born and when?
2. Is your book based on your life or someone you know?
3. Who is your favorite author?
4. What author do you think has influenced you most?
6. What made you become interested in writing?
7. What kind of student were you in high school?
8. How long did it take you to write Open House and where did you get the inspiration?
9. Are you working on a new book right now? What is the name of it?
10. Do you have any advice for future writers?
11. How long have you been married?
12. When was your daughter Claire born?
13. What would you say was your biggest accomplishment?
I'll send a photo to you snail mail. Please let me know if you need more info, and please let me know when the web site is up. Also, feel free to check out my web site, www.bethannfennelly.com for other stuff. Thanks, and good luck to you! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- University of Mississippi English Department page for Beth Ann Fennelly. Beth
Ann Fennelly wins National Endowment for the Arts Grant.
On Poetry and the Reallocation of Concentration: Learning to Forget by Beth Ann Fennelly NEA features Beth Ann Fennelly. Interview with Beth Ann Fennelly conducted by Dan Wickett on 7/12/2002. An Interview with Beth Ann Fennelly conducted by Luan Gaines. BEST of mamazine.com-- The Tender Hooks of Baby Hunger: An Interview With Poet Beth Ann Fennelly by Melissa Fondakowski ------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Beth Ann Fennelly." 2 Dec.2002. Email interview
http://faculty.knox.edu/bfennell/dkgrnlinks.htm> |
poems
have been anthologized in Poets of the New Century,
The Penguin Book of the Sonnet, The Best American Poetry
1996, and The Pushcart Prize 2001 and
others. Fennelly's book of poems, Open House,
has won numerous awards, including the 2001 Kenyon Review
Prize in Poetry for a First Book. Her next book,
Tender Hooks, was published in 2004 by W. W. Norton
& Company. 
ct
of motherhood from a lot of different angles." The inspiration
for the collection of 25 poems was Fennelly's 19 month old daughter
Claire, and the poems explore the changes in Fennelly's
and her husband Tom Franklin's lives since Claire's birth.
Some of the poems in the book are informal, one is a Shakespearena
sonnet, and one is a 12-page experimental poem. In addition,
a long poem called Telling the Gospel Truth appeared
in the Kenyon Review.
Unmentionables:
Poems will be published by W. W. Norton. She now
has a son named Thomas and has been promoted to Associate Professor
of English at the University of Mississippi.
5.
Why did you call your book Open House?
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