Judith Skillman was born in Syracuse, New York of Canadian parents, and holds dual citizenship. She is an amateur violinist, the mother of three grown children, and the “Grammy” of twin girls. She holds a Masters in English Literature from the University of Maryland, and has taught at University of Phoenix, Richard Hugo House, City University, and Yellow Wood Academy.

Ms. Skillman is the recipient of an Eric Mathieu King Fund Award from the Academy of American Poets for her book Storm (Blue Begonia Press), a King County Arts Commission (KCAC) Publication Prize, Public Arts Grant, and Washington State Arts Commission Writer’s Fellowship. Two of her books were finalists for the Washington State Book Award (Red Town and Prisoner of the Swifts).

Poems have appeared in Poetry, FIELD, Tampa Review, The Southern Review, The Iowa Review,  Midwest Quarterly Review, Seneca Review, Prairie Schooner, The Bloomsbury Anthology of Jewish American Poets, and other journals and anthologies. She has been a Writer in Residence at the Centrum Foundation in Port Townsend, Washington, and The Hedgebrook Foundation. At the Center for French Translation in Seneffe, Belgium, she translated Belgian-French poet Anne-Marie Derèse.

A Jack Straw Foundation Writer in 2008 for poetry, and 2013 for fiction, Skillman’s poetry has been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She has received the UK Kit Award, Best of the Web, and her work is included in Best Indie Verse of New England.


Curriculum Vitae

Judith Skillman

6835 113th Place SE, Newcastle, Washington 98056
judith.skillman@comcast.net        www.judithskillman.com

EDUCATION

Post-Graduate Seminars in Comparative Literature and Translation, 1994 - 1995
Workshops in Contemporary Poetry, University of Washington, 1983 – 1992
M.A. English Literature, Cum Laude, University of Maryland, 1983
Catholic University School of Law, 1978 - 1979
B.A. English, Cum Laude, University of Maryland, 1976

TEACHING POSITIONS INCLUDE:

University of Maryland, Bellevue College, Yakima Valley Community College, Washington Poets Association, Centrum Writer’s Workshop, Associated Writing Programs, Eastern Washington University, Richard Hugo House Faculty, Yellow Wood Academy

PUBLICATIONS

Books:

  • Kafka’s Shadow, Deerbrook Editions, 2017
  • House of Burnt Offerings, Pleasure Boat Studio: A Literary Press, 2015, 100 pages
  • The Phoenix: New and Selected Poems 2006 – 2013, Dream Horse Press, 154 pages, 2014
  • Broken Lines—The Art & Craft of Poetry, Lummox Press, 200 pages, 2013
  • The Never,” Dream Horse Press, 80 pages. Finalist for FIELD/Oberlin Press Books Award and Dream Horse Press Orphic Prize, 2010
  • Prisoner of the Swifts, 96 pages, Ahadada Books, Toronto, Canada, 2009, Finalist Washington State Book Award 2010
  • Heat Lightning: New and Selected Poems 1986 – 2006, 150 pages, Silverfish Review Press, 2006
  • Circe’s Island, 88 pages, Silverfish Review Press, 2003
  • Red Town, 86 pages, Silverfish Review Press, 2001, Finalist Washington State Book Award 2002
  • Storm, 72 pages, Blue Begonia Press, 1998, Recipient of Eric Mathieu King Fund Award, Academy of American Poets
  • Beethoven and the Birds, 103 pages, Blue Begonia Press, 1996
  • Worship of the Visible Spectrum, 90 pages, Breitenbush Books, 1988, awarded the King County Arts Commission Publication Prize, jurored by Madeline DeFrees

Grants & Awards Include:

  • Academy of American Poets Eric Mathieu King Fund, Storm, Blue Begonia Press, 1998
  • Washington Arts Commission Writer’s Fellowship 1991 - 92
  • King County Arts Commission Public Arts Grant 1994 - 97
  • Centrum Foundation Residency 1996, 1998
  • King County Arts Commission Publication Prize judged by Madeline DeFrees, 1987
  • Jack Straw Writer’s Fellowship, Seattle, Washington, 2008, 2013
  • Finalist Washington State Book Awards, 2002, 2010
  • The Midwest Quarterly, Tribal Moon Cycle (featured poet) Spring 2012
  • Best of the Web Nominee, Cascadia Review, 2013
  • Pushcart Nominee, What Willows Wept Journal, 2010
  • Pushcart Nominee, J Journal, 2009     +    ten other nominations
  • Bart Baxter Award, Third Place, Washington Poets Association, 2005
  • “Heat Lightning” a finalist in Lost Horse Press & Many Traveled Roads Contests, 2005
  •  Bumbershoot Best Experimental Work for “Red Town”, 2001
  • Kalliope, Honorable Mention, 1996
  • Southern Humanities Review, Guy Owens Prize Finalist, 1995
  • William Stafford Award, Washington Poets Association, 1983 

Residencies Include:

  • The Centrum Foundation
  • Hedgebrook Foundation for Women Writers
  • Seneffe Chateau for French Translators (Belgium)
  • Cle Elum Writer’s Retreat

Translations &  Collaborations include:

  • The Poem and the World, Book III, The Literary Center, Seattle, WA
  • Poems from Perugia, Italy
  • Northwest Review, Volume 34, #2: Two poems by Fernando Pessoa, translated with Antonio Possolo
  • Northwest Review, Volume 41, #2: Six poems by Anne Marie Derése, collaboratively translated.
  • BEACONS @ SUNY, Editor Alexis Levitin, six poems by Anne Marie Derése
  • Anne Marie Derése &The Green Parrot, Ahadada Press 2007.  Anne Marie Derése translations and new work; juxtaposes twenty-four poems from Belgian French and English.
  • 1995: Collaborated with Photographer Ron Hammond to produce a series of poems for his “Forgotten But Not Gone” photographs. This series has been shown at galleries in Seattle; the CD was purchased by the University of Indiana.
  • 1994 – 1997: Collaborated with Joan Stuart Ross and Jesse Doquilo. Wrote poem “The Jury,” etched in glass and housed in the Juror Room of the King County Justice Center, Kent, Washington.
  • 2003: Contemporary Quiltarts Visual/Verse Exhibit, jurored by Hilda Raz. Collaborated with textile artist Erika Carter. This quilt and poetry exhibited nationally
  • 2007: Phrasings in Word and Dance, Bellingham, Washington, April 13 – 14th, poem“On Stilts” performed by Bellingham Dance Repertory Company at the Old Firehouse Theater in Fairhaven.
  • 2013, Ezra, Cornell University’s Quarterly Magazine: Collaborative translations from Macedonian of poems by Jovica Eternijan

Journals include:

  • Poetry, August 1986, September 1986
  • The Iowa Review, University of Iowa, Fall 1988; Summer-Fall 1998, Winter 2008
  • Seneca Review, Hobart and William Smith College 1984, 1989, 2009
  • The Southern Review, Spring 1996, Louisiana State University
  • Northwest Review, University of Oregon, Eugene Oregon, Volume 25 #1, Volume 26 #3, Volume 28 #3, Volume 29 #3, Volume 30 #3, Volume 31 #2, Volume 32 #1,  Volume 33 #2, Volume 35 #1, Volume 36 #1, Volume 37 #1, Volume 38 #2, Volume 39 #1, Volume 41, #2, Volume 46, #3
  • Southern Humanities Review, Auburn University, Alabama
  • Southern Poetry Review, University of North Carolina
  • Prairie Schooner, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, , 1987, 1998, 2009, 2011, 2012.
  • Midwest Quarterly, 1987, 1996, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013.
  • JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) 23 poems: July 28, 1993, March 16, 1994, October 5, 1994, December 14, 1994, July 26, 1995, January 19, 2000, June 16, 2004, April 20, 2005, November, 2006, Summer 2007, Winter, 2008, Spring 2009, October 2010, February 2011, July 2012, October 2013, December 2013, + August 2014, + forthcoming
  • FIBERARTS, Summer 2004
  • FIELD, #72, #75
  • Columbia Magazine, Columbia University, New York, 1988, 1991
  • Fine Madness, Seattle Washington Volume 4, #1; Volume 7, #2; Volume 10, #1; Issue 22; Issue 23; Issue 26
  • Willow Springs, Volumes 26, 27, and 32, Eastern Washington University
  • The Laurel Review, Summer 1988, Winter 1991, Summer 1992, Summer 1997 Northwest Missouri State University
  • Hawai’I Pacific Review, University of Hawaii, 1987, 2010
  • New Mexico Humanities Review, Issues 1985, 1987, 1990, New Mexico Tech, Socorro
  • Hayden’s Ferry Review, Fall/Winter 1991, Arizona State University
  • Green Mountains Review, Spring/Summer 1990
  • Nebraska Review, Fall/Winter 1998/1999
  • George Washington Review, Autumn 1990, Spring 1991, George Washington University, Washington, D.C
  • Spoon River Quarterly, Spring 1998, Summer 1990, Illinois State University
  • Croton Review, 1987
  • Colorado-North Review, 22/1 and 34/1
  • Swamp Root, Spring/Fall 1990, Tennessee
  • Cumberland Poetry Review, Fall 1987, Spring 1989
  • Iris, Fall/Winter 1991, Women’s Center, University of Virginia
  • Salmon Magazine, Summer 1992, Somerville, Massachusetts
  • LiNQ, Volume 22, No. 2, 1995, James Cook University, Australia
  • Raven Chronicles, seven appearances
  • The Malahat Review, 1986, 1991, University of Victoria
  • Permafrost, Volume 5, # 2; Volume 7, #’s 1 and 2; Volume 12, #2; Volume 16, #1
  • The Seattle Review, Fall 1986, Spring 2007, University of Washington
  • The Madison Review, Spring 1984, Fall 1986, University of Wisconsin
  • Iron Horse Literary Review, Spring 2000, Texas Tech University
  • Hubbub, 2005, 2007, Reed College, Portland
  • Xanadu, 1986, 2012, Long Island Poetry Collective
  • Devil’s Millhopper, Fall 1981, University of South Carolina
  • River Oak Review, Special Physics Issue, South Carolina 2000, 2008
  • Poemmemoirstory (PMS),Winter 2005
  • Golden Handcuffs, Winter 2006, Spring 2007
  • Crab Creek Review, Six Issues
  • Literary Imagination, Spring 2007
  • Illya’s Honey, Fall 2005, Spring 2006
  • Seneca Review, 1987, 1994, 2009
  • Tar River Poetry, 2013, 2014, 2017
  • Floating Bridge Press Review, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2016
  • The Two Sylvias, 2013
  • The Ghazal Page, twenty-doue ghazals, 2012 - present
  • Cimarron Review, 2013, 2015
  • Raven Chronicles, 1998, 1995, 2013, 2014, 2017
  • Poetry Northwest, 2014
  • Gargoyle, 2010, 2015
  • Faultline, 2015
  • Gris-Gris, 2015
  • Kentucky Review, 2015
  • The Poetry Storehouse, 2015
  • Cirque, 2015
  • Zyzzyva, 2016
  • Shenandoah, 2016
  • Rise Up Review, 2017 

Readings and Presentations Include:

The Folger Shakespeare Library, Bumbershoot Literary Arts Festival, Associated Writing Programs, Elliott Bay Café, Open Books, Western Washington University, University of Washington, SoulFood Bookstore Reading Series, Auburn’s Literary Arts Series, King Books Literary Arts Series, Inklings Bookstore, Vashon Island, The Bushwick Club, Seattle Library, Jack Straw Studio, Olympia Reading Series, Horizon House, and elsewhere.

Workshops include:

Bellevue Community College, Yakima Valley Community College, Washington Poets Association, Centrum Writer’s Workshop, Associated Writing Programs, Eastern Washington University, Richard Hugo House Faculty, Yellow Wood Academy.

Anthologies include:

  • “The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary American Jewish Poetry,” 2014
  • “Best Indie Verse New England,” 2013
  • “New Poets of the American West,” 2010
  • “Songs from Unsung Worlds”, Science ’85, 
  • “Bits: An Anthology of Light Verse,” 1984, 1985, Robert Wallace, Editor
  • “Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Writing,” 1998, Prairie Schooner
  • “Which Lilith,” Dame, Rivlin, Wenkart, Editors
  • “Uncharted Lines,” JAMA, Charlene Breedlove, Editor
  • “Articulations,” University of Iowa Press“1994, 1996, 2001, & 2006
  • "Jewish Women’s Literary Annual,” JWLC, NYC
  • “Pontoon: An Anthology of Washington State Poets,” Floating Bridge Press,
  • Number One, Fall 1997, Number Two, Fall 1998, Number Four, Fall
  • 2000, Number Five, Fall 2001, Number Seven, Fall 2003
  • “Ergo,” Bumbershoot Anthology, 1988 and 1989“
  • Life on the Line,” Negative Capability, 1992
  • “Weathered Pages,” Blue Begonia Press, 2005“
  • “A Cadence of Hooves, A Celebration of Horses,” Suzan Jantz, Editor, Yarroway Mountain Press, 2007

Reviews of Skillman’s books have appeared in Chicago Sun-Times, Pebble Lake Review, American Poetry Review, Northwest Review, Appalachee Quarterly, Midwest Quarterly Review, The Cortland Review, Square Lake, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Raven Chronicles, The WPA Newsletter, The Stranger, The Seattle Times, Small Press Review, CLMP, The Pedestal Magazine, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, New Pages, Washington Independent Review of Books, and other venues.

Online Journals include:

The Pedestal Magazine, Barnwood, Stickman Review, Tattoo Highway, Poesia, The Fossil Record,  Caesura, Melusine, Switched- On-Gutenberg, Blue Lyra Review, Amythest Arsenic, Twelve Winters Press, Tampa Review Online (TRon), and elsewhere.

Work included in Best of the Web, 2014.