Elizabeth J. Coleman
Current City, State, Country
Birth City, State, Country
Biography
Elizabeth J. Coleman is the editor of Here: Poems for the Planet (Copper Canyon Press, 2019), an international eco-poetry anthology with a foreword from His Holiness the Dalai Lama and an activist guide from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Elizabeth is the author of two poetry collections from Spuyten Duyvil Press, Proof (2014), a finalist for the University of Wisconsin Press prizes, and The Fifth Generation (2016). She is also the author of two chapbooks, Let My Ears Be Open (Finishing Line Press, 2013) and The Saint of Lost Things (Word Temple Press, 2009). She translated the sonnet collection, Pythagore, Amoureux by poet Lee Slonimsky into French (Folded Word Press, 2016). Her poems appear in numerous journals, including Baltimore Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Colorado Review, Minion, and Rattle, and in several anthologies, including Tree Lines: Twenty-First Century American Poems, Grayson Books (April 2, 2022), Barber J., J. Greenbaum, F. Marchant, eds.), Together in a Sudden Strangeness: Poets Respond to the Pandemic (Knopf, 2020, Quinn A., ed) and The Bloomsbury Anthology of Contemporary Jewish American Poetry (Bloomsbury Academic, 2013) (Ager. D. and M.E. Silverman, eds.) Elizabeth received her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2012 after many years as a public interest attorney. Elizabeth co-authored Commercial and Consumer Warranties, Drafting, Performing and Litigating with Professor Julian B. McDonnell (Matthew Bender, 1987). Elizabeth is currently a member of the New York Bar.
Elizabeth has taught mindfulness for many years, and her avocations include classical guitar—she performs weekly for patients and families at a New York hospital—as well as collage and watercolor. She lives in Manhattan and in the Catskill Forest Preserve, New York.
What is the relationship between Judaism and/or Jewish culture and your poetry?
My interest in and curiosity about my Jewish roots have deepened over the years. Judaism and Jewish culture are frequent subjects of my poetry, and make their way into my poems even when unbidden. Poetry allows me to explore my insatiable curiosity about so many things, and this includes Judaism and Jewish culture.
Published Works
Poetry
Autumn in a Solitary Time, The Hudson Valley 2020 (chapbook; Audience Askew, 2023)
The Fifth Generation (Spuyten Duyvil Press, 2016)
Proof (Spuyten Duyvil Press, 2014)
Let My Ears Be Open (chapbook; Finishing Line Press, 2013)
The Saint of Lost Things (chapbook; Word Temple Press, 2009)
Edited Works
Here: Poems for the Planet (Copper Canyon Press, 2019)
Translated Works
Pythagore Amoureux: Pythagoras in Love; Sonnets by Lee Slonimsky (Folded Word, 2015)
Nonfiction
Commercial and Consumer Warranties: Drafting, Negotiating, and Litigating; co-author Julian B. McDonnell (Matthew Bender, 1987)
Author Site
Links to Sample Works
Video Reading
Current Title
Education
Swarthmore College, B.A. in French Literature, 1969
University of Pennsylvania Law School, JD, 1974
Vermont College of Fine Arts, M.F.A. in Writing, 2012