Monahan, Jean 1959-

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MONAHAN, Jean 1959-

PERSONAL:

Born September 2, 1959, in Salem, MA; daughter of John and Patricia Monahan; children: Lilah Violet. Education: Bates College, B.A., 1981; Columbia University, M.F.A., 1985. Hobbies and other interests: Eating.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Anhinga Press, P.O. Box 10595, Tallahassee, FL 32302. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Poet and media producer. WGBH, Boston, MA, producer/writer, 1990-97; Agency.com, Boston, MA, creative director, beginning 1998. Formerly taught English in China.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grolier award, 1988, for poem; Anhinga Press prize, 1991, for Hands; Open Voice award, West Side YMCA, 1994, for poetry; River Styx award, 1998, for poetry.

WRITINGS:

Hands (poetry), Anhinga Press (Tallahassee, FL), 1992.

Believe It or Not (poetry), Orchises (Washington, DC), 1999.

Contributor of poetry to publications and journals including Atlantic, Ploughshares, American Scholar, Heliotrope, Orion, Cortland Review, DoubleTake, Atlanta Review, MIT Oceanographic Institute Newsletter, Manhattan Review, Cider Press Review, Hubbub, American Scholar, Poetry International, New Republic, Seneca Review, River Styx, Button, and Webster Review. Contributor to anthologies including Orpheus & Company, University Press of New England, 1999; and Emily Dickinson Anthology, Universities West Press, 1998.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jean Monahan told CA: "What inspires me to write is often a sense of disbelief or rollicking good humor about the way the world works, most often based on something I have read or been told about. I write to keep some sense of order in soul. I am influenced by Bishop, Moore, Stevens, Lorca, Rilke, Hoagland—but mostly by nonfiction. My writing is becoming less ironic and sardonic and more, dare I say, benevolent (but still just this side of wacky)."