April Ossmann

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April Ossmann
Born
Santa Barbara, California
NationalityAmerican
Alma materDartmouth College, 1992 B.A.
Vermont College of Fine Arts, M.F.A.
Occupation(s)Poet, teacher and editor

April Ossmann is an American poet, teacher, and editor. She is author of Event Boundaries (Four Way Books, 2017) and Anxious Music (Four Way Books, 2007), and has had her poems published in many literary journals including Harvard Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Puerto del Sol, Seneca Review, Passages North, Mid-American Review,[1] and Colorado Review, and in anthologies including From the Fishouse (Persea Books, 2009),[2] and Contemporary Poetry of New England (Middlebury College Press, 2002). Her awards include a 2000 Prairie Schooner Reader's Choice Award.[3] Her essays have been published in Poets & Writers,[4] and by the Poetry Foundation.[5]

Career[edit]

Ossmann worked as an assistant, and then associate, editor for the University Press of New England for over three years.

Alice James Books[edit]

Ossmann was executive director of Alice James Books from 2000 to 2008, presiding over a period of growth that, according to Poets & Writers, saw the press budget more than double in size,[6] and saw the publication of the best-selling Here, Bullet, by Brian Turner, which garnered major media attention.[7][8][9][10] According to Publishers Weekly, which interviewed Ossmann on the occasion of Alice James Books’ thirtieth anniversary, "the press received a three-year, $250,000 stabilization grant from an anonymous donor...With the grant, the press added two full-time staffers, upgraded its equipment, and launched a website with secure online ordering. The press also signed with a trade distributor for the first time, Consortium Book Sales and Distribution."[11] According to Valley News (West Lebanon, NH) reporter Kristen Fountain, “It was an all-consuming, life-changing position, during which she stabilized the company's financial structure, increased its output and helped push its books into the national press.”[12]

Since leaving Alice James Books in 2008[13] to launch her own business, she has worked as a freelance editor and consultant.[14][15][16][17]

Teaching[edit]

Ossmann has taught literature and creative writing for the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Sierra Nevada College at Lake Tahoe,[18] the University of Maine at Farmington, and Lebanon College,[19] and has performed at Stonecoast MFA Program in Creative Writing residencies and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference[20] as a visiting publisher. She currently teaches poetry workshops[21][22] and private tutorials.[23]

Published works[edit]

Reception[edit]

Publishers Weekly, in reviewing Anxious Music, wrote that Ossmann's voice is "remarkable for its confidence and fierceness."[24] Event Boundaries was a finalist for the 2018 Vermont Book Award,[25] and Ossmann received a 2013 Vermont Arts Council Creation Grant for the manuscript-in-progress.[26][27] In its review of the book, Library Journal wrote, “The poems are beautiful and subtly witty, complicated and deceptively honest.”[28] Ossmann has been interviewed by radio programs in California,[29][30] podcast in Vermont,[31] and in print by the Valley News,[32][33] the Vermont Arts Council,[34] and The Southeast Review.[35]

Personal[edit]

Ossmann was born in Santa Barbara, California and raised there and in Richmond and Vacaville, California.[36] She moved to Vermont in 1985, and worked her way through college as a waitress, receiving her A.B. from Dartmouth College in 1992, then earned her MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She currently lives and works in White River Junction, Vermont.[37]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Mid-American Review | Volume XVIII, No. 2 | Spring 1998 | TOC Archived September 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Persea Books | From the Fishouse: An Anthology of Poems that Sing, Rhyme, Resound, Syncopate, Alliterate, and Just Plain Sound Great | Edited by Camille T. Dungy, Matt O'Donnell & Jeffrey Thomson
  3. ^ University of Nebraska – Lincoln Website | News Releases | 02/13/01 Archived June 8, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Poets & Writers | The Practical Writer | Thinking Like an Editor: How to Order Your Poetry Manuscript | by April Ossmann | 02/28/2011
  5. ^ Poetry Foundation | Poets | April Ossmann | Prose by This Poet
  6. ^ Poets & Writers | March 1, 2009 | Q & A: April Ossmann’s Alice James Fix by Kevin Larimer
  7. ^ Alice James Books | Brian Turner’s Author Page Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Online NewsHour | Poetry Series | Poet Profile | Brian Turner | PBS
  9. ^ The New Yorker | The Talk of the Town | Ink: War Poet | by Dana Goodyear, 11-14-05
  10. ^ McClatchy News – Washington Bureau | Veteran Turns War Poet | By Michael Doyle | November 18, 2005
  11. ^ Interview with Ossmann by Publishers Weekly | Alice James Books at 30 | by Judith Rosen | 05/19/2003
  12. ^ Profile: Valley News | Close-up: A Poet Makes Her Home in the Land of Robert Frost | By Kristen Fountain | Friday, May 22, 2009 Archived June 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ Poets & Writers Directory | April Ossmann
  14. ^ Poets & Writers | March 1, 2009 | Q & A: April Ossmann’s Alice James Fix by Kevin Larimer
  15. ^ Poets & Writers Directory | April Ossmann
  16. ^ Vermont Arts Council | Featured Stories | Reaching for Mastery | Interview with April Ossmann by Susan MacDowell | March 30, 2017
  17. ^ The Adroit Journal Conversations with Contributors: Francesca Bell | by Lisa Higgs | April 23, 2019
  18. ^ Poets & Writers Directory | April Ossmann
  19. ^ Poets & Writers | Directory of Writers | April Ossmann
  20. ^ Middlebury College Website | Academics | Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference | Faculty | 2005 faculty Archived July 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Poetry Society of Vermont Summer Festival Saturday August 7, 2021 Poetry Workshop with April Ossmann August 7, 2021
  22. ^ Sacramento Poetry Center Conference Archive | Spring 2018 Presenters | Thinking Like a Poetry Editor: How to Self-Edit a Poetry Manuscript, with April Ossmann
  23. ^ Poets & Writers Directory | April Ossmann
  24. ^ Publishers Weekly | 11/19/2007 | Review of Anxious Music by April Ossmann
  25. ^ Vermont College of Fine Arts | Vermont Book Award Finalists and Winners
  26. ^ “Valley News” | Book Notes: Post Mills Poet and Editor Wins Grant | Friday, November 3, 2012
  27. ^ Vermont Arts Council blog | March 30, 2017 | “Reaching for Mastery” Posted by Susan McDowell
  28. ^ Library Journal | 04/01/2017 | Event Boundaries Reviewed by Karla Huston
  29. ^ Lois P. Jones | Radio: Poets Café Interviews | KFPK 90.7 FM Los Angeles | April Ossmann on Poets Café
  30. ^ capradio 90.9 FM | Arts and Lifestyles | Insight with Viki Gonzales | Event Boundaries Explores Relationships with Self and Others | April 24, 2017 | Sacramento, CA
  31. ^ Write the Book: Conversations on Craft | April Ossmann Interview | #510 May 21, 2018
  32. ^ Valley News | Book Notes: West Windsor Poet’s Work Takes Turn | by EmmaJean Holley | July 14, 2017
  33. ^ Valley News | Archives | Book Notes: Post Mills Poet and Editor Wins Grant | by Alex Hanson | November 23, 2012
  34. ^ Vermont Arts Council | Featured Stories | Reaching for Mastery | Interview with April Ossmann by Susan MacDowell | March 30, 2017
  35. ^ The Wayback Machine | An Interview with April Ossmann | The Southeast Review Online | By Amber Pearson | 08/06/2008
  36. ^ Poets & Writers Directory, April Ossmann Listing
  37. ^ Poets & Writers Directory | April Ossmann

Sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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