Dolin, Sharon (Julie) 1956-

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DOLIN, Sharon (Julie) 1956-

PERSONAL: Born July 25, 1956, in Brooklyn, NY; daughter of Irving and Selma (Fellerman) Dolin; married Barry Magid, October 18, 1995. Education: Cornell University, B.A., 1977, Ph.D., 1990; attended University of Edinburgh, 1977; studied in Perugia, Italy, 1979; University of California—Berkeley, M.A., 1982.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Marsh Hawk Press, P.O. Box 206, East Rockaway, NY 11518. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Poet, editor and educator. Rebus, Inc., New York, NY, executive editor, 1988-90. Cooper Union, instructor in humanities, beginning 1988; New School for Social Research, instructor in poetry, beginning 1997; also taught at New York University; Ninety-Second Street Young Men's Christian Association, teacher of poetry workshops at Unterberg Poetry Center; Center for Book Arts, coordinator and member of panel of judges for annual Letterpress Poetry Chapbook Competition.

MEMBER: Modern Language Association of America, Poetry Society of America, Associated Writing Programs, PEN, Poets House.

AWARDS, HONORS: Fulbright scholar in Bologna, Italy, 1985-86; Gordon Barber Memorial Award, Poetry Society of America, 1990.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

Mind Lag, Turtle Watch Press, 1982.

Heart Work, Sheep Meadow Press (Riverdale-on-Hudson, NY), 1995.

Climbing Mount Sinai, Dim Gray Bar Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Mistakes (chapbook), Poetry New York (New York, NY), 1999.

The Seagull (chapbook), Center for Book Arts (New York, NY), 2001.

Serious Pink (ekphrastic poems), Marsh Hawk Press (East Rockaway, NY), 2003.

Contributor of poetry to literary journals, including Poetry, Boulevard, Threepenny Review, Salamander, Kenyon Review, Ploughshares, American Voice, and Tikkun.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Realm of the Possible, for Four Way Books.

SIDELIGHTS: Poet, editor, and educator Sharon Dolin has always had a particular interest in the city of Brooklyn, New York. Born there in 1956, Dolin has included various aspects of the city in much of her poetry. Although she has had many of her poems published in literary journals, Dolin is best known for her collection of poems titled Heart Work. Heart Work, wrote Choice contributor L. Berk, "creates a sophisticated, cosmopolitan atmosphere" and "weaves moments of feeling against a rich, heavily allusive field of literary presence." American Book Review critic Judy Michaels called the collection "challenging," explaining that in some of the poems Dolin takes an approach that is "too self-consciously Keatsian in their approach to art, nature, and love," and stating that "the dynamic of self-discovery is lacking, so the reader is walled in along with the poet." Berk concluded that it would be worthwhile to add the book to contemporary poetry collections.

Dolin's 2003 release Serious Pink presents a series of "ekphrastic" poems, or poetry about paintings. Mark Doty explained that "Serious Pink is playful, high-spirited, and deeply serious, and in it Sharon Dolin has done a seemingly impossible thing: her poems have the presence of paintings, a vivid materiality. Her fields of color vibrate . . . and the language of which they are made involves us in a deeply individual, engaging sensibility." The book also received mention in Publisher's Weekly as a good read: "'Periwinkle drowns pentimenti-almost/could be a headline,' notes the speaker of Serious Pink, Sharon Dolin's collection of poems written from art work by Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Mitchell and others: 'Rosettes/ are not poppies/ but moments of attention/ burned into the wall.'"