Ellen Doré Watson

Ellen Doré Watson is the author of five full-length collections of poems, including Pray Me Stay Eager (Alice James Books, 2019); Dogged Hearts (Tupelo Press, 2010); This Sharpening (Tupelo Press, 2006); and Ladder Music (Alice James Books, 2002.  A sixth collection, Mostly, I Tell the Truth, will be out from Alice James in May 2028. Library Journal recognized her as one of "24 Poets for the 21st Century," and her work has been widely published in literary journals including APR, Tin House, Ploughshares, Orion, Field, and The New Yorker. Among her honors are a Rona Jaffe Writers Award, fellowships to the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and National Endowment for the Arts Translation Fellowship. Her translations include the poetry of Adélia Prado—The Alphabet in the Park (Wesleyan University Press), Ex-Voto (Tupelo Press), and The Mystical Rose (Bloodaxe Books)—and 8 Brazilian novels. She’ll spend 8 weeks at the MacDowell Colony this fall working on a new Prado translation. Director of the Poetry Center at Smith College for two decades, Watson currently teaches at Fairfield University’s Low-Residency MFA Program, offers generative writing and critique workshops online, and individual poetry manuscript editing with private clients.