Shawna Kay Rodenberg
shawnarodenberg@bennington.edu
shawna.kay.r@gmail.com
shawnakayrodenberg.com
Curriculum Vitae
Education:
January 14, 2012: MFA in English/Creative Writing (Poetry) and Literature from Bennington College.
May 2009: B.A. in English/Creative Writing from the University of Southern Indiana.
May 2000: ADN/Registered Nurse from New Hampshire Technical Institute. In addition to my work in English and Creative Writing, I am also a registered nurse with seven years of ER/critical care experience and ten years in geriatric nursing (nursing history and references available upon request).
Professional Experience:
Author of Kin, a coming-of-age memoir from Bloomsbury (2021), which has appeared on summer reading lists in Oprah Daily, Elle, and Newsday, was called “essential reading” by The Washington Post, and was nominated for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing from Stanford Libraries (2022). Interviews in Hippocampus, Appalachian Review, and The New York Post. Featured on various programs and literary events including The Memoir Café with Sonja Livingston, Bookstack with Richard Aldous, Read Appalachia with Kendra Whitaker, The Only One in the Room with Laura Cathcart Robbins, the literary festival at Printer’s Row in Chicago, the Concord Festival of Authors in Massachusetts, the Kentucky Book Festival, Madison Book Fest in Richmond, Kentucky, and the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. I am currently at work on my second memoir.
May 2025 (upcoming): Creative Director, Trace to Trail Writers’ Studio at the Sanctuary in Evansville, Indiana.
July 2024 (upcoming): Guest editor for a book project at Haymarket Books in Chicago.
January 2024 to present: Faculty (nonfiction) at the Bennington Writing Seminars.
September 2023 to present: Freelance editing/manuscript consultation.
May 2024: Guest speaker, virtually, Literature & Medicine discussion group at Mass General Hospital.
February 2024: Panel member, “Maternal Acts,” Appalachian Studies Association Conference at Western Carolina University.
July 2023: Faculty (nonfiction) at Appalachian Writers Workshop in Hindman, Kentucky.
June 2023: Faculty (nonfiction) at Ironwood Writers Studio, a residential creative writing workshop for high school students in Hindman, Kentucky.
November 2022: Guest Speaker, virtually, by request for two sections of Women and Crime at California State University (Fullerton).
June 2022: Alumni Fellow, Bennington Writing Seminars (taught a master class, led workshops, and gave a reading).
May 2022: Visiting Instructor (nonfiction, virtually) for The Makery at Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, Kentucky.
April 14, 2022: Visiting Writer (nonfiction, virtually) at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.
April 12-13, 2022: Workshop Leader (nonfiction) at East Tennessee State University’s Spring Literary Festival in Johnson City, Tennessee.
April 7-9, 2022: Presenter (nonfiction) at Tennessee Mountain Writer’s Conference in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I also served as judge for their annual writing contest.
October 2021: Reviewer for the Kentucky Foundation for Women Art Meets Activism grant.
Spring 2021: Judge for Plattner Award (nonfiction) at Appalachian Review.
August 2015 to May 2018: English Lecturer at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in Pikeville, Kentucky. Responsibilities included teaching around seven sections per semester in composition, rhetoric, creative writing, and literature to an underserved community of mainly dual-credit high school and non-traditional students in a tailored mix of both online and in-person formats.
September 2016: Guest Lecturer at Antioch College, where I presented my lecture on the efficacy and value of dialect, specifically Appalachian English, in poetry, titled “A Geography of Scars.”
February 2016 to present: Freelance writer for Elle, Salon, the Village Voice, and Consequence Magazine.
2014 to 2022: Poetry Editor, Michael Waters Poetry Award, Southern Indiana Review.
April 2013 to 2018: Founder and host of Slant, a monthly poetry reading which accommodated both professional and amateur poets.
September 2012 to May 2015: Writing Instructor for WriteGuide. Tailored online instruction included students of all ages, including those at the college level. Comprehensive instruction ranged from basic grammar and usage to developing creative writing projects and revising and editing full-length manuscripts for publication.
Spring 2015: Dialect/regional consultant for Linefork, a documentary directed by Jeff Daniel Silva and Vic Rawlings featuring acclaimed eastern Kentucky banjoist, Lee Sexton.
December 2014: Guest lecturer in poetry for Humanities 212 at the University of Southern Indiana.
2011: Writing workshop facilitator/Community Education at the Evansville Public Library.
2010: Poetry Editor, Thomas Wilhemus Chapbook Contest, Southern Indiana Review.
2008: Intern for the Southern Indiana Review.
Honors and Awards:
2022 Finalist for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing (nonfiction) from Stanford Libraries.
December 2021: My essay, “I Grew Up in a Christian Commune…” was selected by Salon Magazine for their Best of 2021 List.
2017 recipient of a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award.
December 2016: My article, “How Evangelical Women Found a False Savior in Trump,” published by the Village Voice, made Entropy Magazine’s Best of Net List.
November 2016: My poem, “Stray,” was nominated by Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel for a Pushcart Prize.
July 2016: Finalist, Brittany Noakes Poetry Award.
June 2016: Recipient of the Jean Ritchie Fellowship, the largest monetary award given to an Appalachian writer, for both my memoir-in-progress and my poetry.
June 2016: Invited to attend the Cumberland Writers Studio on full scholarship.
June 2014, 2015, and 2016: Invited to attend the Mountain Heritage Literary Festival in Harrogate, Tennessee on scholarship.
My poetry manuscript, Black Magic Gun, was chosen as a finalist for four national contests-- by Persea in 2015, and Saturnalia, Zone 3, and the Baltic Writing Residency in 2016.
My memoir manuscript was chosen as a finalist by the Baltic Writing Residency in 2016.
My poem, “Little Debbie’s How-To,” was the recipient of the Kudzu Poetry Prize in 2016.
My poem, “Don’t Ask Me to Sing,” was nominated by Structo Mag for a Pushcart Prize in 2014.
My poem, “Maternal Lament,” was a finalist for both the Crab Creek Review’s annual poetry prize (2014) and for Fugue’s annual writing contest (2014).
Honorable mention and publication of my poem, “WIC,” in New Millennium Writings Poetry Contest in Spring, 2013.
Co-writer for 2013 NCA panel project regarding prevalent feminism in Dolly Parton’s lyrics between the years 1970-1980.
March 2012: Invited to present my lecture on the history and efficacy of the use of Appalachian dialect in creative writing (specifically poetry) at the Mildred Haun Conference on Appalachian Studies, in Morristown, Tennessee.
June 2011: Invited to attend the Appalachian Writers Workshop in Hindman, Kentucky.
Graduated from the University of Southern Indiana with honors.
December 2008: Awarded a travel and research grant by the University of Southern Indiana to study the persona of Freud in popular Viennese culture.
June 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009: Invited to attend the RopeWalk Writers Retreat in New Harmony, Indiana on scholarship.
May 2000: Graduated in Nursing from New Hampshire Technical Institute with high honors.
2000: Member of Sigma Tau Delta, an international English Honor Society.
1998: Recipient of the Mensa Education and Research Foundation scholarship.
Publications:
In addition to the recent release of my memoir, excerpts of which appeared in Cutleaf Magazine and the Appalachian Review, my essays have appeared in Elle, Salon, and The Village Voice:
https://www.elle.com/culture/books/a36720855/maybe-dolly-is-the-goal-but-loretta-is-the-truth/
https://www.elle.com/beauty/a27181123/when-nurses-cry-at-work-healthcare-professionals/
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/how-evangelical-women-found-a-false-savior-in-trump-9345884
Additionally, my poems have been published in The Bennington Review (2012), The New Millennium Review (2013), Free State Review (2014), Structo Magazine (2014), drafthorse lit journal (2014), The Crab Creek Review (2015), The USI 50th Anniversary Anthology (2015), Kudzu (2016), Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel (2016), and Appalachian Heritage Magazine, now The Appalachian Review (2018).
My academic publications, in addition to papers I have presented for the panels listed above, include lectures for the RISC Showcase on my creative translations of the French poetry of Anna, Comtesse de Noailles, and another on the contemporary persona of Sigmund Freud in popular Viennese culture. My graduate thesis argued for the value and efficacy of dialect, specifically Appalachian English, in poetry.
Other Interests:
I am a registered nurse, mother of five, grandmother of two, and a vocalist. My husband is a guitarist and songwriter, and we are currently recording an album together--a blend of contemporary Americana, vintage country, and Appalachian traditionals.
Professional References:
Mark Wunderlich
Executive Director, Bennington Writing Seminars
Cricket Hill #201
One College Drive
Bennington College
Bennington, VT
mwunderlich@bennington.edu
Megan Galbraith
Director, Bennington Writing Seminars
Cricket Hill #202
One College Drive
Bennington College
Bennington, VT
megang@bennington.edu
Craig Morgan Teicher
Director of Special Projects
Bennington Writing Seminars
(works remotely)
craigteicher@bennington.edu
Dr. Dominic Micer
Lecturer, Writing Department
Loyola University Maryland
4501 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD 21210
dmicer@loyola.edu