Fried, Daisy 1967- (Margaret Fried)

PERSONAL:

Born 1967, in Ithaca, NY; married Jim Quinn. Education: Swarthmore College, B.A., 1989.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Northampton, MA; Philadelphia, PA.

CAREER:

Writer, poet, and journalist. Former writing instructor at Warren Wilson College low-residency M.F.A. program, Haverford College, University of Pennsylvania, and Rutgers University at New Brunswick; Smith College, Northampton, MA, Grace Hazard Conkling writer-in-residence.

AWARDS, HONORS:

William A. Schnader Print Media Award, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, for the article "Legal Freeze," 1997; Pew fellow in poetry, 1998; Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize for She Didn't Mean to Do It; Leeway Award for excellence in poetry, 2001; Bread Loaf fellow, 2002; Hodder fellow, Princeton University, 2004-05.

WRITINGS:

POETRY

She Didn't Mean to Do It, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 2000.

My Brother Is Getting Arrested Again, University of Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, PA), 2006.

Contributor of poetry to periodicals, including American Poetry Review, Antioch Review, Colorado Review, Indiana Review, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and Threepenny Review; contributor of nonfiction to publications, including Philadelphia, Philadelphia Inquirer, Newsday, City Paper, and Philadelphia Weekly.

SIDELIGHTS:

Daisy Fried is a poet who has worked at various institutions as a writing teacher, including Warren Wilson College, Haverford College, the University of Pennsylvania, Rutgers University at New Brunswick, and Smith College, where she serves as writer-in-residence. Writing itself, however, is her first love. Her poetry has won numerous accolades, including the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize for She Didn't Mean to Do It, and the Leeway Award for excellence in poetry in 2001. Fried also works as a journalist for various Philadelphia-based publications, a side of her career she credits with making her pay attention to details and encouraging her interest in political and social welfare, all of which carries over into her poetry. In an interview with Tracy Parker for the Philadelphia Arts Writers Web site, Fried remarked: "I listened to the way people talked [in interviews] and I put that in my poems."

She Didn't Mean to Do It, Fried's first collection of poems, met with both critical and popular acclaim in the world of poetry. The volume gathers a series of her early lyrical poems, many of them set in Philadelphia. Her follow-up effort, My Brother Is Getting Arrested Again, while still lyrical in nature, delves into more serious subject matter than her first book. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote: "Winningly personal, the poems are nevertheless artful, with a light touch to balance their heavy subjects." Sandra M. Gilbert, reviewing for Poetry, remarked of the poems that "Fried's avoidance of the obvious is provocative—and subtle."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, March 15, 2006, Rochelle Ratner, review of My Brother Is Getting Arrested Again, p. 75.

Philadelphia Inquirer, December 18, 2000, Thomas J. Brady, "The Author: Daisy Fried," review of She Didn't Mean to Do It.

Poetry, February 1, 2007, Sandra M. Gilbert, "Eight Takes," review of My Brother Is Getting Arrested Again, p. 404.

Publishers Weekly, February 20, 2006, review of My Brother Is Getting Arrested Again, p. 138.

Writer, September 1, 2006, Judith Rosen, "Small-Press Success: Authors Tell Why They Went with an Independent Publisher—and Why You Should, Too," p. 50.

ONLINE

American Poems,http://www.americanpoems.com/ (April 22, 2007), author biography.

Cold Front Magazine,http://reviews.coldfrontmag.com/ (April 22, 2007), David Sewell, review of My Brother Is Getting Arrested Again.

Famous Poets and Poems,http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/ (April 22, 2007), author biography.

Philadelphia Arts Writers Web site,http://www.philadelphiawriters.com/ (April 22, 2007), Tracy Parker, "After She Did It: Catching Up with Daisy Fried."

Poetry Daily,http://www.poems.com/ (April 22, 2007), author biography.

Whyy.org,http://www.whyy.org/ (April 22, 2007), author biography.