Melissa Buckheit, Curator of Edge Reading Series

Originally from New York and New England, Melissa Buckheit is a poet, dancer/choreographer, photographer, English Professor and Bodywork Therapist. She is the author of Noctilucent, (Shearsman Books), published in March 2012, an e-chapbook, Arc, (The Drunken Boat, 2007), and her poems, translations, photography, interviews and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in nth position, Blue Fifth Review, The Drunken Boat, Broad!: AGentlelady’s Magazine, Blue Five Notebook, Sinister Wisdom, University of Arizona Poetry Center eNewsletter, Cutthroat, Bombay Gin, Pirene’s Fountain, A Trunk of Delirium, Spiral Orb, Shearsman Magazine, and Sonora Review, among others. She translates the poet Ioulita Iliopoulou from Modern Greek and the poet Olga Broumas into French. A recipient of the American Poets Honorary Award, a Grossbardt Prize, and a Tucson-Pima Arts Council Dance grant, her poetry has also been nominated for two Pushcart Prizes. She holds an M.F.A. in Poetry from Naropa University and a B.A. in English & American Literature/Creative Writing, Dance/Theatre, and French from Brandeis University. She has taught Literature and Writing at The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, The Southwest University of Visual Art, Pima Community College, and the University of Arizona, as well as dance through Zuzi! Dance Company, Mirasol Eating Disorder Recovery Program, Arts for All and Paulo Friere Freedom School. Also a choreographer, Melissa has performed and premiered her work in Boulder, Boston, and Tucson, where she is a member of Brandeis Dance Collective and Zuzi! Dance Company. Melissa is the founder and curator of Edge, a monthly reading series for emerging and younger writers at Casa Libre en la Solana in Tucson, AZ, which emphasizes diversity of narrative, identity, and aesthetic. She lives in Tucson with her partner, Rebecca and their son, Jacob. Read more of her work from Noctilucent, with links to reviews, at http://www.shearsman.com/pages/books/catalog/2012/buckheit.html