Uncategorized | February 11, 2009
Shockley is the author of a half-red sea (2006) and the chapbook The Gorgon Goddess (2001), both published by Carolina Wren Press, and a second chapbook, 31 words — prose poems (2007), published by Belladonna Books. Her poetry has also appeared in numerous journals and anthologies.
The critic Nancy Kuhl has said of Shockley’s full-length collection, “united by a voice that is both sure and supple, the poems here consider individual and collective American histories through a complex of lenses; matters of sex, race, culture, nationalism, and power are turned in the poet’s hands, revealing smooth planes and sharp edges. The result of Shockley’s attentiveness to language and to a complicated cultural and emotional record is a moving and surprising book that is ‘prickly with bloodless truths.’”
Shockley is also a literary scholar and critic.
Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, Shockley now lives in Jersey City, N.J., and teaches African American literature and poetry at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.
FMI: Contact Beth Loffreda at loffreda@uwyo.edu
Shockley will also participate in UW’s “Teaching Creativity” conference Feb. 24-26.