Professional Summary Publications - Abbrev

James V. Cummins Professor and Curator of the Elliston Poetry Collection UCL Public Services - 0033 Langsam Library - 646 513-556-1570
[email protected]
Professional Summary
James Cummins was born in Columbus, Ohio, and grew up in the Midwest, primarily in Cleveland and Indianapolis
Indianapolis. He received a B.A. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers
Iowa Writers' Workshop. His first book, The Whole Truth, was published by North Point Press in 1986, and
his second, Portrait In A Spoon, by the University of South Carolina Press in 1997. The Whole Truth was
reissued in the Carnegie-Mellon University Press “Classic Contemporary Series” in 2003. His third book,
Then & Now, was published by Swallow Press (Ohio University Press) in 2004. A fourth book, Jim &
Dave Defeat the Masked Man, co-authored with David Lehman and collecting all the sestinas written by
the two poets, was published by Soft Skull Press in 2006.
Individual poems have appeared in journals such as The Paris Review, Partisan Review, Harper's,
Ploughshares, The New Republic, Shenandoah, The Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast, LIT, and others. Awards
for his work include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, an Ingram Merrill grant, and
fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council; in addition, his poems have been reprinted in The Best American
Poetry anthologies for 1994, 1995, 1998, 2005, and 2009, The Oxford Book of American Poetry (Oxford
University Press, 2006), and 180 More, edited by former poet laureate, Billy Collins. Cummins has been
curator of the Elliston Poetry Collection at the University of Cincinnati since 1975, where he is also
Professor of English. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife, Maureen Bloomfield, a poet and art critic, and
their two daughters, Katherine and Margaret.
Publications - Abbrev
Book Still Some Cake (poems) Carnegie-Mellon University Press, forthcoming in 2011. 2011S Poem "Moses," Western Humanities Review (forthcoming). 2011S Poem "Wars of Nutrition," Western Humanities Review (forthcoming). 2011S Poem "This Night of All Nights," The American Poetry Review, Vol. 39/No. 3, May/June 2010.
2010S Poem "Grave Poem for My Daughters," The Journal, Volume 34.1, spring/summer 2010. 2010S Poem "My Father's Hair," The Journal, Volume 34.1, spring/summer 2010. 2010S Poem "The Snipers," The Dark Horse, #24, Winter, 2009/2010. 2010S Poem “The War of All Against All,” The Dark Horse, #22, Summer, 2008. 2008S Poem “Family Romance,” The Antioch Review, Vol. 66, No. 3, Summer, 2008. 2008S Poem “Freud,” The Antioch Review, Vol. 66, No. 3, Summer, 2008. 2008S Poem “Buying a Dog for Margaret,” Colorado Review, Vol. 33, No. 3, Fall/Winter 2006. 2006S Poem “Hamilton Loses His Foot Cherry,” Flights, Fall, 2005. 2005S Book Jim and Dave Defeat The Masked Man (poems, co-authored with David Lehman), Soft
Skull Press (Brooklyn), 2005. 2005S Book Then & Now (poems), Swallow Press (Ohio University Press, Athens, OH), 2004. 2004S Poem “The Poets March on Washington,” Jacket, No. 25, Winter, 2004. 2004S Poem “Tiresias Mason,” Antioch Review, Vol. 62, No. 3, Summer, 2004. 2004S Poem “David Lehman and Jim Cummins Are Put on Administrative Leave,” Antioch Review, Vol.
62, No. 3, Summer, 2004. 2004S Poem “Portrait of a Lady,” Paris Review, Vol. 46, No. 171, Fall, 2004. 2004S Poem “David Lehman and Jim Cummins Parachute into Iowa City,” Paris Review, Vol. 46, No.
171, Fall, 2004. 2004S Book The Whole Truth (poems), Carnegie-Mellon University Press, (Pittsburgh, PA), 2003
(reissue of first book in “Contemporary Classics” series). 2003S Book Portrait In A Spoon (poems), University of South Carolina Press, (Columbia, SC), 1997.
1997S Book The Whole Truth (poems), North Point Press (Berkeley, CA), 1986. 1986S Poem “Poetry Reading,” Gulf Coast, Vol. 16, No. 1, Winter/Spring, 2004. Poem “The Clockmaker,” Flights, Fall, 2003. Poem “Poster Children,” Flights, Fall, 2003. Poem “David Lehman and Jim Cummins Run Poems for the CIA in Nicaragua,” LIT (The New
School), Vol. 4, No. 2, Winter, 2003. Poem “Against Wordplay,” The Mississippi Review, Vol. 31, No. 3, Fall, 2003. Poem “Doing Lunch,” The Mississippi Review, Vol. 31, No. 3, Fall, 2003. Poem “For Margaret,” The Mississippi Review, Vol. 31, No. 3, Fall, 2003. Poem “Thank You,” Paris Review, Vol. 44, No. 164, Winter, 2002. Poem “David Lehman and Jim Cummins Rescue Denise Duhamel from a Summer Writers
Conference,” The Journal, Vol. 26, No. 2, Autumn/Winter, 2002. Poem “Now and Then,” Western Humanities Review, Vol. LVI, No. 1, Spring, 2002. Poem “Practical Immortalities,” Western Humanities Review, Vol. LVI, No. 1, Spring, 2002. Poem “Monopolies,” Euphony (University of Chicago), Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring, 2001. Poem “Orpheus Fixes Himself a Cup of Tea,” Euphony, Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring, 2001. Poem “Lunch with Mom and Dad,” Southern Indiana Review, Vol. 8, No. 1, 2001. Poem “Prayer for My Daughters,” Southern Indiana Review, Vol 8, No. 1, 2001. Poem “We’ll Always Have Paris,” Paris Review, Vol. 42, No. 156, Fall, 2000. Poem “Edmund and Elena Wilson Have Dinner with Edna St. Vincent Millay and Her Husband,
Eugen Boissevain, August 6, 1948,” Paris Review, Vol. 42, No. 156, Fall, 2000. Poem “To Helen Vendler and Jorie Graham at Harvard,” Paris Review, Vol. 42, No. 156, Fall,
2000. Poem “From a Notebook,” Paris Review, Vol. 42, No. 155, Summer, 2000. Poem “The Brother,” Antioch Review, Vol. 55, No. 2, Spring, 1997. Poem “Collegiality,” Antioch Review, Vol. 55, No. 2, Spring, 1997. Poem “Echo,” Antioch Review, Vol. 55, No. 2, Spring, 1997. Poem “Good-bye To All That,” Western Humanities Review, Vol. 50, No. 3, Fall, 1996. Poem “Schindler’s List,” Paris Review, Vol. 38, No. 141, Winter, 1996. Poem “Romantic Love,” Chariton Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 1995. Poem “Guide,” Chariton Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, Fall, 1995. Poem “An Ars Poetica for You,” Paris Review, Vol. 36, No. 132, Fall, 1994. Poem “Outside the Paul Laurence Dunbar House the Grifter Sees Us Coming,” Western
Humanities Review, Vol. 48, No. 2, Summer, 1994. Poem “Sestina,” Paris Review, Vol. 36, No. 132, Fall, 1994. Poem “Turista,” Western Humanities Review, Vol. 48, No. 2, Summer, 1994. Poem “Sestina,” Paris Review, Vol. 35, No. 126, Spring, 1993. Poem “Reading Hemingway,” Kenyon Review, Vol. XIV, No. 3, Summer, 1992 (New Series). Poem “White Rose,” Kenyon Review, Vol. XIV, No. 3, Summer, 1992 (New Series). Poem “Unsolicited Advice for President-elect Clinton,” The Washington Post, December 13,
1992. Poem “The Critic,” Ploughshares, Vol. 15, No. 4, Winter, 1989-90. Poem “The Poet-In-Residence,” Ploughshares, Vol. 15, No. 4, Winter, 1989-90. Poem “The Passion,” Paris Review, Vol. 31, No. 110, Spring, 1989. Poem “The Voices,” Paris Review, Vol. 31, No. 110, Spring, 1989. Poem “To My Daughter,” Paris Review, Vol. 31, No. 110, Spring, 1989. Poem “The Little Professor,” The New Republic, Vol. 196, No. 12, March 23, 1987. Poem “The Grad Student,” Raccoon, Vol. 24/25, May, 1987. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘Everybody knows! That was his first thought …,’ Mid-American Review
Mid-American Review, Vol. IV, No. 1, Spring, 1984. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘Perry and the fly walked into the dingy conference room
…,’ Iowa Review, Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall, 1984. Poem “A Biography,” Shenandoah, Vol. 35, No. 4, 1984. Poem “The Imaginary Friendship of Li Ho and Tu Mu,” Shenandoah, Vol 35, No. 4, 1984. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘All the best baseball managers play against The Book
…,’ Shenandoah, Vol. 35, No. 4, 1984. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘A silent Perry remembered how it used to be: look …,’ ” Sonora Review
Sonora Review, No. 5, Fall, 198. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘Perry pressed the top of his silver pen. I suffer …,’ ” Sonora Review, No. 5, Fall, 1983. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘ “Perry—” Furious, Mason looked up from the chess
…,’ ” Antioch Review, Vol. 40, No. 1, Winter, 1982. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘A big, slow fly, shuffling around the white linen sheets
…,’ ” Antioch Review, Vol. 40, No. 1, Winter, 1982. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘Perry picked up a copy of Robert Lowell’s The Dolphin
…,’ ” Antioch Review, Vol. 40, No. 1, Winter, 1982. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am …,’
” Shenandoah, Vol. 32, No. 1, 1981. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘His view blocked by Paul Drake’s broad shoulders …,’ ” Zone, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1980. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘As he walked into the courtroom, Perry Mason …,’
”Zone, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1980. Poem “From The Perry Mason Sestinas: ‘Hamilton cleared his throat. “You see, style …”,’ ” Shenandoah
Shenandoah, Vol. 31, No. 2, 1980. Poem “The Case of the Cincinnati Syndrome,” Partisan Review, Vol. 47, No. 4, 1980. Positions and Work Experience
2003 to Present Professor Department of English, University of Cincinnati OH 2003 -2005 Poetry Editor, The Cincinnati Review Department of English, University of Cincinnati
OH 1987 -2003 Associate Professor Department of English, University of Cincinnati OH 1975 to Present Curator, Elliston Poetry Collection University of Cincinnati OH Education
Institution:University of Iowa Iowa City, IA Master of Fine Arts in English and Creative Writing
1973 Institution:University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH Bachelor of Arts in English 1971 Preferred Information
Professor and Curator of the Elliston Poetry Collection Other Information
Description:
Selected Awards, Readings, Professional Presentations
Poetry reading, KGB Series, New York City, November, 2008.
Poetry reading, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March, 2006.
Poetry reading, Bowery Poetry Club, New York City, February 2006.
Poetry reading, KGB Series, New York City, November, 2005.
Poetry reading and panel discussion, The New School, New York City, October, 2004.
“What Sam Saw: A ‘New' Reading of the End of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,”
paper presented at College English Association annual conference, Cincinnati,
Ohio, April, 2002.
“Good Indians: An Alternative Reading of Hemingway's ‘Indian Camp,'” paper presented at the Mideast Conference on Christianity and Literature, University of
Dayton, October, 2001.
Poetry reading, with Carolyn Kizer, KGB Series, New York City, October, 2000.
Individual Artist Grant, $5000, Ohio Arts Council, 1997.
Poetry reading, The New School, for the Academy of American Poets, New York
City, October, 1994.
City, October, 1994.
Poetry reading, The Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y, New York City, April, 1989.
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, $20,000, 1988.
Ingram Merrill Foundation Award, $5000, 1988.
Individual Artist Grant, $5000, Ohio Arts Council, 1984.
Individual Artist Grant, $6000, Ohio Arts Council, 1982.
Poetry readings at many local and area universities, arts organizations, and commercial venues, including
the Ohio Arts Council, Columbus, Ohio; the University of Miami; the Carnegie Arts Center, Covington,
Kentucky; the University ofToledo; Xavier University; Southern Indiana University; Arnold's Bar & Grille;
and others.

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