Cloud Missives, debut poetry collection (Tin House, August 20, 2024).
poems
“In Our Long Walk, My People Came on Ships (I),” forthcoming in the Great Lakes Anthology from Belt Publishing, edited by Michael Welch.
“Plainview,” forthcoming in The Bitter Southerner.
“In Our Long Walk, My People Came on Ships (I)” and “Forest Bathing,” forthcoming in Another Chicago Magazine.
“All I Need to Know about Love I Learned from My Fellow Primates,” forthcoming from Poetry Unbound with Pádraig Ó Tuama, part of the On Being project, 2024. Audio podcast and online.
“Saving Seeds,” and reprint of “How to Be a Real Indian.” Beyond Blood Quantum: Refusal to Disappear from Fulcrum Publishing, edited by Norbert S. Hill, Jr., and Megan Minoka Hill. Print.
“Love Song to the Man Announcing Pow Wows and Rodeos,” “With Thirteen Moons on Your Back,” “Even the word Oneida / can’t be written in Oneida,” and “Red Woman,” reprinted in Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 35, issue 1-2.
“Convergent Evolution.” The Rumpus‘ National Poetry Month Feature; April 4th, 2023. Online.
“Sahalie Falls.” Sierra magazine, Spring 2023 issue. Online.
“Red Woman,” and “Light Pollution,” reprinted in Dance: Indigenous Nations Poets Write from the Library of Congress anthology chapbook, edited by Denise Low and Edgar Silex, Mammoth Publications, 2023. Print.
“In Which I Become (Tiger Lily),” reprinted in Best New Poets 2016, selected by Mary Szybist. Print.
“Lubbock.” Deep South Magazine, “Southern Voice,” April 2016. Online.
“Burkburnett.” Lines + Stars, Spring 2016. Online.
“Cradleboard” and “The Only Good Indian Is a Dead Dead Dead Dead Indian,” reprinted in Sundress Publications’ Political Punch anthology, spring 2016. Print.
“Sails Like White Clouds,” “Beat Me To Grandma’s, I Dare You,” and “Waadookodaading Drum….” TheThe Poetry Blog’s Infoxicated Corner Spotlight Series, January 2016. Online, with interview. “Beat Me to Grandma’s, I Dare You” nominated for Sundress’ Best of the Net 2016.
“Meredith.” Midwestern Gothic, reprinted in Issue 20, Midwinter 2016. Print.
“Draw the Human Form.” Blue Earth Review, Issue 15, Fall 2015. Print.
“Norway.” Tahoma Literary Review, Issue 5 (Vol II Number III), November 2015. Print & Digital.
“How Do We Always End Up At The Same Parties II,” and “Orange Moon Over Johnson.” Hermeneutic Chaos, November 2015. Online, with audio. “Orange Moon Over Johnson” nominated for Sundress’ Best of the Net 2016.
“The Grand Canyon Opens Its Legs Wide.” Noble / Gas Qtrly, Issue 202.3, August 2015. Online.
“In Which I Become (Tiger Lily).” Four Winds Magazine: Issue 3; Strong Women Edition, or, “Taking Back Tiger Lily.” Online. Selected for Best New Poets 2016.
“Palm Reader, Fifth Avenue.” Word Riot. April 2014. Broadside produced by Littoral Press, as winner of the Littoral Press Poetry Prize 2014. Online.
“Pathology” and “Forensics.” The Iowa Review, Winter 2013/2014. Print. Finalist, The Iowa Review Awards, 2014.
“Sweetwater” and “Big Spring,” Sonora Review, March 2013, vol. 63. Print.
“Dust Mother, Namegiver,” “Cloud-splitter,” and “I Knew a Girl Who Roosted In Airports,” Yukhika-latuhse, Issue 7, 2013. Oneida Nation Arts Program. Print.
“Tiger Lily Teaches, Part II: Re-appropriation and Artistic Domain.” Four Winds Magazine, Issue 3; Strong Women Edition, or “Taking Back Tiger Lily,” Summer 2015. Online.
“A Care Package.” Matter: a Journal of Political Poetry and Commentary. Issue 9, October 2014, guest edited by Cecilia Llompart. Online. Excerpt from memoir.
“Poetry as a Gathering Space: a review of Molly McGlennen’s Creative Alliances: The Transnational Designs of Indigenous Women’s Poetry,” Studies in American Indian Literature, 30.3-4 Fall-Winter 2018, Print.
“Longhouse,” concrete poem installation on York University campus, initially as part of Congress for the Humanities and Social Sciences annual gathering, Toronto, ON, May 2023 – present.
“Water Basket,” visual poetry sculpture. “Art of the Native Peoples” exhibition, Galena Center for the Arts, Galena, IL, Oct 2018 – Jan 2019.
“I Wrote You Poems Across Texas,” photographs. “PHOTOGRAPHY NOW!” exhibition, hosted by Ozier Muhammad, Kweli Journal International Literary Festival, Raw Space Gallery, Harlem, NY, May 2018.
“Water Basket,” visual poetry sculpture. “(About that) Water Is Life” exhibition, presented by Heid. E. Erdrich, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Summer 2017.
“Who Married Star Husbands” chamber opera libretto, composed by Shuying Li for Vocalypse’s Opera From Scratch in Nova Scotia, for two sopranos, baritone and piano, Spring 2014. Additional Performances: Composers Conference (Wellesley College, 2015), Midwest Composer’s Symposium (2017), “New in November” (Hartford Opera Theater, 2018).
“New Episodes,” art song, composed by Shuying Li. Performed at University of Michigan’s Word Up! Concert, April 20th, 2014.
“LIKE, the opera,” libretto & animation, composed by Dylan Arthur Baker, for soprano, alto and baritone, utilizing overhead projection screen for animation of accompanying social media meta-commentary and digital audiovisuals. Performed at University of Michigan’s “Words & Music” workshop, Spring 2014.
“The Opera Singer,” opera scene, composed by Dylan Arthur Baker, for soprano and baritone. Performed by Natasha Drake at University of Michigan’s “Words & Music” workshop, Spring 2014.
“Mein Mädchen,” an aria, composed by Daniel Sottile, for soprano and celesta. Performed by Natasha Drake at University of Michigan’s “Words & Music” workshop, Spring 2014.
conferences & presentations
“In Praise of Legacy: Writers of Color and the Challenge of the Canon,” panel member, Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference, Kansas City, MO; February 2024.
“Geolocation & Geocollaborative: Poetry of Place,” presentation, In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations’ Poets) Annual Retreat, Door County, WI; April 24, 2023.
“In-Na-Poets and En-treaties: Writing Indigenous—What Does it Mean Now?,” panel member, Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference, Seattle, WA; March 2023.
“Mapping Wampum: Storytelling & Sovereignty in Indigenous Poetry,” craft talk & poetry reading / research presentation, Centre for Indigenous Knowledges and Languages (CIKL) at York University, Toronto, ON; Sept 26, 2022.
“Indigenous Storytelling & Poetics: Strategies for Writing Histories,” panel member, Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference, Pittsburgh, PA; March 2022.
“Native American Storytelling & Poetry: Writing into New Vocabularies,” presentation. Indigenous International Exchange Program hosted by York University, online; Oct 27, 2021.
“Wampum: a multimodal book of poetry and ethnographic memoir,” creative works presentation. NAISA annual conference, Online/Remote; June 2021.
“The Role of Superheroes in an Age of Fascism and Authoritarianism,” panel member. DePaul Pop Culture Conference: Superheroes Edition; Chicago, IL, May 2020, abstract accepted. Conference cancelled.
“‘Good Words’: Alternative Storytelling Methods in Indigenous Poetry,” paper presentation. NAISA annual conference, Toronto, Canada; May 2020, abstract accepted. Conference cancelled.
“Native Waves: A Craft Talk on the State of Contemporary Aesthetics of Native American Writing,” with Erika T. Wurth, and David Weiden. Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpelier, VT; March 2020.
“Good Words: Traumatic Source Materials and the Researcher’s Affect in Indigenous Creative Ethnography,” presentation and talk. Affect Theory & Praxis: Transdisciplinary Methodologies workshop, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; Fall 2018.
“Why Start A Literary Magazine,” panel member. Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference, Tampa Bay, FL; 2018.
“Discarding the Cloak of Invisibility: A Candid Look at the Whitewashing in the Potterverse,” panel member. Harry Potter and the Pop Culture Conference, DePaul University, Chicago, IL; 2017.
“Writing as Refugees: Collective Trauma & Impossible Return,” panel member. Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference, Washington D.C.; 2017.
“Facebook and the MFA Admissions Process,” panel member. Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference, Chicago, IL; 2013.
prizes & awards
Annual Prairie Schooner Strousse Award – Prairie Schooner (2024)
Four Recommenders Grants for Writers from Ontario Arts Council for Verpesyk manuscript-in-progress, 2024.
“Voices For The Land: Civic Poetry & New Media Activism,” presentation. High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology Spring Conference, Metro State University, Denver, CO, March 2013.
“Poetry and Anthropology: ethnography at the intersection of fact & fiction,” presentation/paper. High Plains Society for Applied Anthropology Ghost Ranch Fall Retreat, Ghost Ranch, NM, October 2012.
interviews
92NY Insider interview, as part of the 2021 92NY Discovery Contest Award, Summer 2022. Online.
“A conversation on poetry and migration,” interview alongside Ngwatilo Mawiyoo, Safia Elhillo, Laressa Dickey, and with Éireann Lorsung (moderator), in 111O, Issue 9, May 2016. Print.
“From the Horse’s Mouth,” interview in Iron Horse Literary Magazine, Issue 18.2, Spring 2016. Print.
“Interview with Kenzie Allen,“ interview with Fox Fraiser-Foley in TheThe Poetry Blog’s Infoxicated Corner Spotlight Series, January 2016. Online.
Let the Land Speak: Hodinǫhsǫ́:nih / Haudenosaunee Voices reading, Spring Writes Literary Festival 2023. (April 22, 2023, Ithaca, NY; May 11, 2023, virtual)
In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations’ Poets) offsite reading, Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference. (March 9, 2023; Elliot Bay Books, Seattle, WA)
Seattle Arts & Lectures and Poetry Northwest offsite reading, Association of Writers and Writing Programs annual conference. (March 8, 2023; The Pine Box, Seattle, WA)
“Three Idiots Shouting Poetry Presents Kenzie Allen!” reading and open mic night via Two Idiots Peddling Poetry, Nov 17, 2022, virtual.
“In Praise of Legacy” reading with Angel C. Dye and Aliyah Muhammad, hosted by Faraday Publishing. April 7, 2022, virtual.
“Indigenous Poetry Series: Joan Naviyuk Kane and Kenzie Allen” reading, hosted by Brooklyn Public Library. Feb 28, 2022.
Seattle Arts & Lecture presents: a reading with Sherwin Bitsui & Kenzie Allen @ Hugo House, Seattle, WA. Nov 5, 2021.
92Y Discovery Prize (2020 & 2021) Reading with Ina Cariño, Asa L. Drake, Luther Hughes, Daniella Toosie-Watson, Mag Gabbert, Ana Portnoy Brimmer, Alexandra Zuckerman; 92 Street Y, New York, NY. Oct 23, 2021.
“What the Universe Is” reading with Jon D. Lee, hosted by Michael Mercurio. March 11, 2021, virtual.
“In the Mood for Love Poems: A Poetry Reading and Celebration with Faylita Hicks, Benjamin Garcia, Jubi Arriola-Headley, Allison Adair, and Matthew Olzmann, hosted by White Whale Bookstore. Feb 18 2021, virtual
Visiting Writer Reading, with Erika T. Wurth and David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Vermont College of Fine Arts, March 27, 2020.
BONK! Reading & Music Performance, with Gint Aras and Koku Gonza. Racine, WI, February 25, 2017, with video.
United We Read UWM student & faculty reading, with Caleb Nelson, Sherri Hoffman, and Lane Hall. Milwaukee, WI, February 16, 2017.
Off-site Reading with Iron Horse Literary Magazine, grist, and Nashville Review, at AWP ’17, February 10, 2017.
Poets in Pajamas Reading Series #3: Kenzie Allen, online reading via Periscope, November 13, 2016, with video (starts at 21:43).
Poetry Reading at Indian Summer Festival, with Franklin Cline. Milwaukee, WI, September 11, 2016.
Helen Zell Postgraduate Fellows Reading Series, Western/Americana Edition, with Nate Marshall and Joe Horton. Ann Arbor, MI, November 4, 2014.
Mark Webster Reading Series, with Chigozie Obioma. Ann Arbor, MI, February 21, 2014.
Off-site Reading with Sonora Review at AWP ’13, Chicago IL, March 15, 2013.