Cecily Parks
Dr. Cecily Parks | |
|---|---|
| Occupations | Poet and professor |
| Awards | 2016 Pushcart Prize winner |
| Academic background | |
| Education | Rice University (BA) Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars (MA) Columbia University (MFA) CUNY Graduate Center (PhD) |
| Alma mater | CUNY Graduate Center |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | English |
| Institutions | Texas State University |
| Website | https://faculty.txst.edu/profile/1922061 |
Cecily Parks is an American poet and professor. She is author of three poetry collections: The Seeds (Alice James Books, 2025); O’Nights (Alice James Books, 2015); and Field Folly Snow (University of Georgia Press, 2008).[1]
Biography
Parks was born in 1976.[2] She attended Rice University and graduated in 1999.[3] As an undergraduate, Parks contributed reporting to The Rice Thresher and developed an interest in poetry during her senior year after taking a workshop.[4][5] Following her graduation, she received her MA in poetry from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars in 2000.[6]
Parks later earned her MFA in poetry at Columbia University and received her PhD at City University of New York, where she wrote a dissertation on American women writers and swamps.[7]
In 2020, Parks contributed spoken-word poetry to Stuart Hyatt's album Ultrasonic on the closing track, “Between the Hawthorn and Extinction.”[8] The song was described by Tony Rehagen of Indianapolis Monthly as a "spoken-word ode to the endangered [Indiana] bat that leans toward lament."[9] The poem was previously published in Orion under the title "The Indiana Bats."[10]
She currently lives in Austin, Texas, where she is an associate professor at the Texas State University MFA program for creative writing.[11]
Honors and awards
- 2005: New York Chapbook Fellowship[12]
- 2008: Finalist, Norma Farber First Book Award[13]
- 2016: Pushcart Prize[14]
- 2022, 2021, 2020 inclusions in The Best American Poetry[15]
- 2019: The Writer Magazine/Emily Dickinson Award[16]
Published works
Poetry collections
- Parks, C. G. (2025). The Seeds. New Gloucester, ME: Alice James Books.[17]
- Parks, C. (2015). O’Nights. Farmington, ME: Alice James Books.[18]
- Parks, C. (2008). Field Folly Snow. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.[19]
Chapbooks
- Parks, C. (2005). Cold Work. New York, NY: Poetry Society of America.[20]
Anthologies edited
- Parks, C. (2025). Best New Poets 2025. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.[21]
- Parks, C. (2016). The Echoing Green: Poems of Fields, Meadows, and Grasses. New York, NY, United States: Everyman's Library Pocket Poets.[22]
References
- ^ "Faculty Profiles". faculty.txst.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ Treacy, Natalie (2024-12-03). ""December": Five Questions for Cecily Parks". ashberyland. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Poetry workshop shaped life and career of poet". news2.rice.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 83, No. 24, Ed. 1 Friday, March 29, 1996 - Rice University Digital Collections". digitalcollections.rice.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Featured Faculty: Dr. Cecily Parks (2014) – #TXSTEnglish @TXST". txstenglish.wp.txstate.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ Parks, Cecily (2021-06-29). "Cecily Parks | Narrative Magazine". www.narrativemagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Cecily Parks | Kenyon Review Author". The Kenyon Review. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Stuart Hyatt on Turning Bat Sounds into Stunning Ambient Music". Vol. 1 Brooklyn. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ Rehagen, Tony (2020-08-30). "Stuart Hyatt Is On A Different Wavelength". Indianapolis Monthly. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ Parks, Cecily (December 9, 2019). ""The Indiana Bats"". Orion Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
- ^ Treacy, Natalie (2024-12-03). ""December": Five Questions for Cecily Parks". ashberyland. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Blackbird Feature, Chapbook Author Interview Bios". blackbird-archive.vcu.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Permanent Faculty". www.english.txst.edu. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Faculty Profiles". faculty.txst.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "The Best American Poetry Series | Series Archive". www.bestamericanpoetry.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Cecily Parks". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "The Seeds by Cecily Parks". Alice James Books. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Winter Poetry Reads". Boston Review. 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Field Folly Snow". Georgia Press. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ "Cecily Parks". Georgia Press. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
- ^ Parks, Cecily; Livingood, Jeb. Best New Poets 2025. Samovar Press. ISBN 979-8-9917112-1-0.
- ^ "The Echoing Green: 9781101907733 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30.