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Nicky Beer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nicky Beer
Born1976 (age 47–48)
Alma mater
OccupationPoet
EmployerUniversity of Colorado Denver
Notable workReal Phonies and Genuine Fakes
Awards

Nicole C. Beer (born 1976) is an American poet. A 2017 MacDowell Fellow and 2023 Guggenheim Fellow, she is Associate Professor of English at University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) Department of English.[1] One of her poetry books, Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes, won the 2023 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry.

Biography

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Nicole C. Beer[2] was born in 1976[3] to William R. Beer, a sociologist who worked as a professor at Brooklyn College, and Rose (née Salisbury).[4] She was raised in Northport, New York and went to Northport High School.[3][2]

She later obtained her BA in Sociology (1998) from Yale University, MFA in Creative Writing and Literature (2003) from the University of Houston, and her PhD in English (2007) from the University of Missouri.[5] After spending a year as a visiting poet at Murray State University (2008-2009), she moved to the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver) Department of English as a senior instructor, before being promoted to assistant professor in 2011 and associate professor in 2016.[5]

She was originally inspired to go into poetry after seeing the William Blake poem "The Tyger" on PBS, and she had been writing poems by the time she was in fourth grade.[6] She became a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellow in Poetry.[7] In 2009, she joined CU Denver's literary journal Copper Nickel as their poetry co-editor, and after its founder Jake Adam York's death in 2012, she became one of his two literary executors in 2013.[5] Her first two poetry books, The Diminishing House (2010) and The Octopus Game (2015), won the Colorado Book Award for Poetry.[8] In 2023, she won the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Poetry for her next book Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes,[9] which she had worked on during her 2017 stint at the MacDowell Colony.[10] In 2023, she was appointed a Guggenheim Fellow in Poetry.[11]

At CU Denver, she teaches classes in creative writing, poetry, and literary studies (particularly in intersection with women's studies and LGBT studies).[1] She also works as a juror in poetry contests, including outside of Colorado and for the Academy of American Poets Prize and The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.[5]

Beer is bisexual and queer.[12]

Publications

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Books

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Nicky Beer". English. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Long Island Scholars Merit Semifinalists". Newsday. October 3, 1993. p. 277. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  3. ^ a b "2008 Ruth Lilly Fellowship Winners Announced" (Press release). Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "William R. Beer, Professor, 48". New York Times. July 25, 1991. pp. B10. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d "Nicky Beer". University of Colorado Denver. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  6. ^ Beer, Nicky (September 21, 2017). "Five questions for Nicky Beer". CU Connections (Interview). Interviewed by Cynthia Pasquale. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  7. ^ "Nicky Beer". www.arts.gov. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  8. ^ Casey, Chris (July 5, 2016). "Poet Beer explores mysteries of octopi, wins second Colo. Book Award". CU Denver News. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  9. ^ "2 Canadians win Lambda Literary Awards for best LGBTQ+ writing". CBC Books. June 20, 2023. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  10. ^ "Nicky Beer". MacDowell. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  11. ^ "Nicky Beer". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "Nicky Beer". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "The Octopus Game by Nicky Beer". Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  14. ^ "Review of Nicky Beer's "Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes" by Ryan James". Another Chicago Magazine. November 15, 2022. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
  15. ^ Rhodes, Benjamin Anthony. "Fake Selves and Real Grief: On Nicky Beer's "Real Phonies and Genuine Fakes"". Cleveland Review of Books. Retrieved June 4, 2024.