Danusha lameris biography templates
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Danusha Laméris is an American poet, raised in Northern California, born to a Dutch father and Barbadian mother. Her first book, The Moons of August (Autumn House, 2014), was chosen by Naomi Shihab Nye as the winner of the Autumn House Press Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the Milt Kessler Award. Her most recent collection, Bonfire Opera, (University of Pittsburgh Press, Pitt Poetry Series, 2020), recently won the 2021 Northern California Book Award in Poetry and was a finalist for the 2021 Paterson Poetry Award. Some of her work has been published in The Best American Poetry, The New York Times, The American Poetry Review, The Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, Ploughshares, and Orion. The recipient of the 2020 Lucille Clifton Legacy Award, Danusha has taught poetry independently since 2006. She founded The Hive Poetry Collective, a radio show, podcast and event hub in Santa Cruz, CA, where she was
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Q:How did you come to be a poet?
A: My first memory of poetry as a kid was walking along Dover Beach in Barbados with my mom, my granddad, who was a writer, and his poet friends who were reciting poetry in their gorgeous Caribbean accents. It was a beautiful day surrounded by white, powdery sand. I remember feeling almost intoxicated and thinking, “Whatever this is, I want this.” Added to that, my mother, who was a scientist, had a photographic memory and knew everything she’s ever read before by heart. When I was younger, she would go around the house reciting Shakespeare’s sonnets, or we’d be stuck on the Bay Bridge in traffic, and she would recite Tennyson. I didn’t realize anything unusual was going on, to me that was just weird stuff your mom does, but that definitely influenced me.
Q: How has your inspiration for your poetry changed
over time?
A: I like to think that each writer, and probably each ar
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Danusha Laméris
Selected Poems (And A Conversation)
As part of our ongoing celebration of the magazine’s fiftieth year in print, we asked Ellen Bass and Danusha Laméris to choose a poem by the other for this month’s Dog-Eared Page. We uppstart with a conversation in which they discuss their shared history and why they selected the poems that follow.
The Big Picture
Ellen Bass
I try to look at the big picture. / The sun, ardent tongue / licking us like a mother besotted / with her new cub, will wear itself out. / Everything is transitory.
The Cat
Danusha Laméris
After my brother died, his wife was sure he was living / inside their cat, Rocky. He’s in there, she’d say, staring into / those blank, yellow eyes. Isma’il? Isma’il? Can you hear me?
Lava
Once, two women hiked a volcano, / stood on the lip, and watched the fire / move in the crater’s mouth.
January 2020