Marissa Davis
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English
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Marissa Davis teaches in the English Department, specializing in creative writing. A poet and translator, her areas of interest include ecological poetry, Black Southern poetry, and writing from the Francophone world. Prior to joining Barnard, she worked at the book publisher Penguin Random House and taught creative writing at New York University. Marissa is the author of My Name & Other Languages I Am Learning How to Speak (Jai-Alai Books, 2020), chosen by Danez Smith for Cave Canem’s Toi Derricotte and Cornelius Eady Chapbook Prize. Her writing has received several honors, including a Tin House scholarship, a Rona Jaffe fellowship, and publication in Best New Poets. She has previously served as a judge for the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. As a recipient of a 2023 ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship, she is currently working on translating a book of poetry from French.
- MFA, Creative Writing, Poetry, New York University
- B.A., English Literature, Vanderbilt University
Poetry:
- "Twister Tri-State," Quarterly West
- "Ecclesiastes: Deciduous," Gulf Coast
- “If we had known,” Poetry
- “Black Girl Kintsugi," Poetry
- “Notes left for the Ohio River to read when it tells me it has forgotten its source," Poetry
- “Memory of Mammoth Cave, Provoked by a Pelvic Ultrasound," Poetry
- “Wild Grasses," Poetry
- "Lot's Wife," Narrative Magazine
- "Katabasis," Rattle
Translations from French:
- "Excerpts from Côté Ciel" by Stéphanie Ferrat, The Offing
- "On the Way Back" by Aksinia Mihaylova, The Common
- “Where the Sun Rises in Different Windows” by Aksinia Mihaylova, Massachusetts Review
- "Every morning, he reads the newspaper" by Aksinia Mihaylova, American Chordata
- “Signs” by Aksinia Mihaylova, New England Review
- “Not Knowing What to Do with My Hands” by Aksinia Mihaylova, New England Review