CV | Christopher Burawa

EDUCATION

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing (emphasis in poetry) May 2004

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Dean’s Chair Department Scholarship

Dean’s Circle Scholarship

Graduate Assistant for Norman Dubie

Master of Arts, English Language/Literature May 1994

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Bachelor of Arts. English Language/Literature May 1987

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona

Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

Executive Director. Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, Red Wing, Minnesota. September 2015 – October 2017.

Director. Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tennessee. January 2009 – August 2015.

Literary Arts Director and Communications Director. Arizona Commission on the Arts, Phoenix, Arizona. April 2005 – December 2008.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Grant Writer & Editor. Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Tempe, Arizona. February 2004 – April 2005.

Grant Writer & Associate Editor. Arizona State University, Herberger Center for Design Excellence, College of Architecture and Environmental Design. Tempe, Arizona. July 2002 – February 2004.

Internet Project Manager. Bowne of Phoenix – Internet Services. Phoenix, Arizona. July 1999 – October 2001.

Senior Editor. American Compensation Association (now, World at Work). Scottsdale, Arizona. June 1997 – July 1999.

Technical Writer. Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base. Albuquerque, New Mexico. May 1996 – June 1997.

Associate Editor. Arizona State University, Academic and Administrative Documents. Tempe, Arizona. May 1989 – May 1996.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

English Language Arts Teacher. Red Wing High School (ISD 256), Red Wing, Minnesota. September 2021 – .

Language Arts - 10th grade
Mythology

Permanent Substitute Teacher. Twin Bluff School (ISD 256), Red Wing, Minnesota. October 2020 – September 2021.

In-person and remote substitute teacher for K-6

Teaching Artist. Red Wing, Minnesota. November 2017 – .

Lead poetry and interdisciplinary workshops on Creative Aging.
Lead community poetry and interdisciplinary workshops combined with forest bathing

Media & Technology Assistant / Distance Learning Technology Support. Burnside Elementary School, Red Wing, Minnesota. August 2019 – October 2020.

Mentor. Phoenix College, Creative Writing Program. Phoenix, Arizona. August 2006 – December 2008. Met with undergraduate students at Phoenix College interested in pursuing a Creative Writing degree and provided comments on new work.

Scholar. Arizona Humanities Council. Phoenix, Arizona. April 2006 – December 2008. Served as a literary scholar for the Council and led book discussions at libraries or community centers around the state that participated in NEA The Big Read program.

Visiting Lecturer. Arizona State University, Graduate Creative Writing Program, Tempe, Arizona.

Innovative Women’s Poetry: Reading & Workshop, Spring 2007
Writing about Nature, Spring 2008
Literary Translation Seminar, Fall 2007, 2008

Visiting Professor. Arizona State University, Graduate Creative Writing Program, Tempe, Arizona.

ENG 598: Post-Modern Poetry Reading & Workshop, Fall 2006

Instructor. Writers’ Workshop at the Arizona State University Art Museum

The Art of Remembrance, May 2004 (coinciding with the exhibition, “When I Grow Up,” a multi-media exhibition that examines the day-to-day lives of seniors and the issues of aging.)
Democracy in America, August 2004 (coinciding with the exhibition, “Democracy in America: Political Satire Then and Now,” to educate viewers and create a forum for discussion of the meanings of democracy.)

Adjunct Professor. Chandler-Gilbert Community College. Department of Language and Humanities. Chandler, Arizona.

Fundamentals of Writing, 2002 – 2003
First-Year Composition, 2002 – 2003

PRESENTATIONS

"Embracing Chaos and Finding Peace." 2022-23 #KEY2SUCCESS @ RWPS. Professional Learning Day. February 20, 2023.
"Zen Buddhism & Oneness," Unity Minneapolis, March 17, 2019
The Buddha's Enlightenment, Red Wind UU Community, December 9, 2018.
Panel Discussion with Sheila O’Connor, John Jodzio, Neal Karlen, “Resources for Writer Post-MFA.” Gustavus Adolphus College low-residency MFA Program, July 30, 2016.
“Arts & Democracy,” Lecture of the Provost Lecture Series, Austin Peay State University, October 24, 2013.
“Nordic Knots: Workshop for Translators from Scandinavian Languages,” with Thom Saterlee, Annemette Kure Andersen, Michael Goldman, and Laura Wideburg, at the 2013 American Literary Translators Association annual conference, University of Indiana, October 16, 2013.
“God is in the Details,” with Ellen Doré Watson and Roger Sederat, Drew University Low-residency M.F.A. Program in Poetry and Translation, June 22, 2013.
“The Relative Versus the Absolute in Translation,” Drew University Low-residency M.F.A. Program in Poetry and Translation, June 21, 2013.
“Translating Living Writers,” 35th Annual Conference of the American Literary Translators Association, Rochester, New York, October 2012.
“Why Read Rumi?” Asanbe Diversity Symposium panel with Coleman Barks, Blas Falconer, and Bert Randall. Austin Peay State University. March 4, 2010.
“The Resurrected Mind: Writing Away from the Cultivated Line.” Desert Nights, Rising Stars Writers Conference, Arizona State University, February 18-21, 2009.
“Wide-Open Marketing: Strategies for Getting the Word Out for Artists and Arts Organizations.” Southwest Arts Conference, Glendale, Arizona, January 25, 2008.
“Raising Funds to Help Writers, Programs, and Literary Organizations.” Associated Writing Programs Conference, Atlanta, Georgia. March 1, 2007.
“Does Poetry Matter?” Panel discussion at the Northern Arizona Book Festival, with Cynthia Hogue and Teresa Svoboda, Flagstaff, Arizona, April 21, 2006.

CREATIVE WORK

Books

The Small Mystery of Lapses. Cleveland: Cleveland State University Press. 2006. Winner of the Cleveland State University First Book Competition. Poems.

Chapbooks

Where I Came Here From. Finishing Line Press. Finishing Line Press. March 2023.

Of The Same Mind: Poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson. Reno, Nevada: Toad Press. Summer 2005. Winner of the International Chapbook Series. Translation.

Current Projects

Flying Night Train: Selected Poems of Jóhann Hjálmarsson. Actively seeking publisher. Translation from Icelandic.

Collected Poems of Steinn Steinarr. In process.

Poems (Selected)

“Regret, Speckled by Want,” Superstition Review. Issue 23, 2019.

“An Act of Ghosting to Avoid Complications,” “Like a Good Horse,” and “Vultures and the Constant Application of Them.” Superstition Review. Issue 10, 2013.

“Dripping Surgery.” Hayden’s Ferry Review. Fall 2011.

“Agrimensura of the Mire: Arnessyla, Iceland.” Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts. Vol. 10, 2010. (Winner of the Joy Harjo Award, selected by Marvin Bell).

“Condolence for the Blind Mori” and “Antidote to the Chaos of Imagination.” blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts. A publication of Virginia Commonwealth University. Fall 2009.

“A Theory of Eczema” and “Neighbors Rising above Octaves.” Prairie Schooner. Spring 2008.

“To naked men, to women naked as rain” and “Blood Meal Love.” Whiskey Island Review. Issue 53, 2007.

“An Icelandic Christmas Poem without Animals.” Small Spiral Notebook. Volume V, Issue 2 Spring/Summer, 2007.

“The Silent Zoo” and “The Taxidermist’s Cat.” Del Sol Review. Spring 2007, no. 14.

“An Enso for Larry Levis.” Burnside Review. Vol.3, No. 1, 2006.

“Shriven, of the Apothecary of Lies.” KAMARU. 20(1): Spring 2006. 40th Anniversary Issue.

“The Mind Flows a River that Murders Someone.” Columbia Poetry Review. No. 19. Spring 2006.

Translations from Icelandic

"Observation Deck" by Jóhann Hjálmarsson. Poem-a-Day, Academy of American Poets. September 2022.

“Flying Night Train: New & Selected Poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson.” Portfolio Feature. Poetry International. May 2022.

Time and Water (Tíminn og Vatnið). By Steinn Steinarr. Co-translated with Cynthia Hogue. Asymptote. January 2019. Translation from Icelandic.

Short story by Kristín Eiríksdóttir, “Locating, Acquiring, Classifying, Arranging, and Preserving,” Axolotl Magazine. September 28, 2015.

Short story by Kristín Eiríksdóttir, “Locating, Acquiring, Classifying, Arranging, and Preserving,” Waxwing. Issue II, Spring 2014.

Short story by Kristín Eiríksdóttir, “Doris Dies,” Hayden’s Ferry Review. 53, 2013.

Short story by Óskar Magnússon, translated from Icelandic: “Dr. Amplatz.” BEST EUROPEAN FICTION 2014. Dalkey Archive Press. 2013.

Short story by Gerður Kristný, translated from Icelandic: “The Ice People.” BEST EUROPEAN FICTION 2012. Dalkey Archive Press. 2011.

Short story by Kristín Eiríksdóttir, translated from Icelandic: “Holes in People.” BEST EUROPEAN FICTION 2011. Dalkey Archive Press. 2010.

Short story by Steinar Bragi, translated from Icelandic: “The Sky Over Thingvellir.” BEST EUROPEAN FICTION 2010. Dalkey Archive Press. 2009.

Jóhann Hjálmarsson, Project for Innovative Poetry Blog (feature on poet and translations) October 25, 2009.

"Five poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson," (“Waking Beside the Source,” “On the Death of a Poet,” “Morning Light in the Faroes,” “Song,” and “Love Poem”). LOCUSPOINT. August 2008.

"Five poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson," (“Fish,” “Two Words,” “from Daybook from Umsvali,” “Another Frivolous Year,” and “from Easter in a West Fjord (II)”) The American Poetry Review. Vol. 35/No. 5. September/October 2006.

"Three poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson," (“Desire and Disbelief,” “Squalls,” and “Even the Room Has Its Doubts”) Hayden’s Ferry Review. Fall/Winter 2005-06: 37.

"Four poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson," (“Conscience of the Universe,” “Elegy,” “Final Solution,” and “Postscript”) Ars-Interpres: An International Journal of Poetry, Translation & Art. No. 4 & 5. October 2005.

"Five poems by Jóhann Hjálmarsson," (“A Treatise on Autumn Butterflies,” “Of the Same Mind,” “Forest Wind,” “Oppositions,” “Advertisement for Spanish Scenery”) Ars-Interpres: An International Journal of Poetry, Translation & Art. No. 2. Winter 2004.

Reviews

“Bragi Ólafsson’s The Ambassador.” First Person Plural, online journal of The Writer’s Center. November 1, 2010.

“the totality for kids by Joshua Clover.” Cutbank Poetry. January 2007.

Essays

Superstition Review Guest Post, "Writing as Seeking: A Perspective on Contemplative Practice & Poetry." August 29, 2019. s [r] blog.

“Teaching with Calendars and the Study Guide.” Foreword to Calendars Reader's Companion. Tupelo Press, 2007. (By invitation of poet Annie Finch and Tupelo Press).

“What is Icelandic for Duende.” Hayden’s Ferry Review. Fall/Winter 2005-06: 37. (On translating the early work of Jóhann Hjálmarsson)

“Luis W. Alvarez.” Nobel Prize Winners: Physics. Volume 3. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 1989. (Written with Dr. Jean R. Brink)

Invited Readings (Selection)

Poetry Reading with Gretchen Marquette at Anderson Center, November 11, 2016

Poetry Reading with Robert Hedin at Anderson Center, December 12, 2015.

Poetry Reading with Adam Vines at University of West Georgia, September 2014.

Poetry Reading with Roger Sederat for the Low-residency M.F.A. program in Poetry and Translation, Drew University, June 21, 2013.

Video/Film

Executive Producer, Roy Acuff Tribute: In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Acuff Chair Endowment, 2010

Narrator, New Old Stock: Carvings, Castings, & Constructions by Mike Andrews, 2013.

Screenwriter and narrator, The Mind Within The Heart: The Art of Mike Andrews, 2015

COMPETITION JUDGING

National Endowment for the Arts reader for Translation Fellowship, 2015

Tennessee Poetry Out Loud State Final Competition, 2014

Arizona State Poetry Society Annual Poetry Competition, 2013

Glendon & Kathryn Swarthout Award in Writing, Arizona State University, 2008

Arizona Center for the Book, Letters for Literature competition, 2008

Arizona Literary Treasure Award Committee, Arizona Humanities Council, 2008

Witter Bynner Translation Fellowships, Santa Fe Art Institute, 2007

AWARDS

International

Translation Fellow. Writers’ Union of Iceland. July 11-31, 2014. Reykjavik, Iceland.

National

Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference fellowship, 2015

Pushcart Nominee, 2011 for “Agrimensura of the Mire: Arnessylsa, Iceland”

2010 Joy Harjo Poetry Award (from Cutthroat and selected by Marvin Bell)

American-Scandinavian Foundation Creative Writing Research Fellowship, 2008

National Endowment for the Arts Literature in Translation Fellowship, 2007

Pushcart Nominee, 2007 for “Shriven of the Apothecary of Lies”

Witter Bynner Poetry Translator Residency at the Santa Fe Art Institute, 2006

MacDowell Colony Fellowship, May 2003

State

Teaching Artist Training in Creative Aging (sponsored by Aroha Philanthropies), August 2019

Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council Advancing Artist Grant, March 2019

Arizona Commission on the Arts, Professional Development Grant, October 2004

Arizona Commission on the Arts, Professional Development Grant, December 2003

Institutional

Austin Peay State University Summer Research Fellowship, Summer 2012

Dean’s Chair Department Scholarship 2003 – 2004, Arizona State University

Dean’s Circle Scholarship 2003 – 2004, Arizona State University

Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society

COMMUNITY & ORGANIZATIONAL SERVICE

Minnesota State Arts Board Grant Panelist, Creative Support for Individuals, 2021
Minnesota State Arts Board Grant Panelist, Creative Support for Organizations, 2021
Poetry Judge (with Melissa Cundieff), Poet Artist Collaboration Competition, Red Wing Arts, 2021
Partnership board member, Every Hand Joined, 2016 – 2017
Founder and ex-officio board member, Acuff Circle of Excellence, 2009 – 2015
Board of Directors, Clarksville-Montgomery County Arts & Heritage Development Council, 2009 – 2015
Dean’s Council, Austin Peay State University, 2009 – 2015
Clarksville YMCA Board of Directors, 2012 – 2015
National Marketing Committee member for the Amercians for the Arts annual conference in Nashville, 2013 – 2014
Arts Build Communities program of the Clarksville-Montgomery County Arts & Heritage Development Council, 2013
Tennessee Arts Commission Panelist, Arts Education Teacher Training (Tier 2 organizations), 2013 – 2015
Leadership Clarksville, 2011 – 2012
Gateway Chamber Orchestra founding board member, 2011 – 2012
Chair, Clarksville Writers’ Conference, 2009 – 2011, 2013
APSU Student Organization Advisor, Theatre Organization for Youth by Students, 2009–2011
Editorial Advisory Board, The Engaged Writers Series, University of New Orleans Press, 2008 – 2012
Panelist, Maryvale Pool House Poetry Selection Panel, Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, December 2008
Chair, Communications Committee, Central Arizona Museum Association, 2008
Conference Planning Committee, American Literary Translation Association, 2008 – 2009
Public Relations Advisory Board, Arizona Citizens/Action for the Arts, 2007 – 2008
General Operating Support Grant Panel, Tucson Pima Arts Council, 2008
Committee Member, Arizona Partnership for Innovation, 2005 – 2008
Scholar. Arizona Humanities Council. Phoenix, Arizona. 2006 – 2008

CURATORIAL EXPERIENCE

25th Anniversary Roy Acuff Tribute Exhibition to celebrate the man who endowed the Roy Acuff Chair of Excellence at Austin Peay State University, featuring artwork, photographs, and ephemera by Roy Acuff from private collections and the Tennessee History Museum collection. October 4, 2010 – October 31, 2010.
Salon Series: Curated monthly artist presentations within Clarksville, Tennessee, to promote the diversity and value of the arts in society. 2009 – 2015.
“Iron Country,” photographs of the people and landscape of the Minnesota Iron Range by Vance Gellert. January 20, 2017 – March 31, 2017.
“Behind Closed Doors,” an exhibition of textile art by Julie Sirek addressing domestic violence. April 17, 2017 – June 23, 2017.
Co-curated “There Is A Ladder: Reaching for the Unknown,” with artist Cate Whittemore, featuring notebooks, sketches, and doodles by artists and scientists that reflected the creative process toward a final work. October, 6, 2017 – November 30, 2017.

FUNDRAISING & GRANTS

McKnight Foundation, General Operating Support, Fiscal Years 2016 & 2017, $30,000/year
Jerome Foundation, toward the Jerome Emerging Artist Residency, Fiscal Years 2015, 2016, 2017, $21,250/year
Red Wing Area Fund, restoration grant for historic buildings, $25,000 for 3 years beginning in Fiscal Year 2017
Jones Family Foundation Grant, General Operating Support, for Fiscal Years 2016 & 2017, $17,500/year
Southeastern Minnesota Arts Grant, $5,000 for Fiscal Year 2017 toward “Two Trains Runnin’”, a documentary about Freedom Summer, bringing Director Sam Pollard and Writer and Executive Producer Benjamin Hedin to Red Wing for the Minnesota premiere
Minnesota Historical Society Legal Grant, toward a condition assessment of the Anderson Center’s historic brick water tower in Fiscal Year 2017, $10,000
National Endowment for the Arts, Artist Community, Art Works Grant: $10,000 for Artist Residency, 2016 & 2018; $10,000 for Deaf Artist Residency
Xcel Energy Foundation, Minnesota Children’s Book Festival, Fiscal Years 2016 & 2017, $5,000/year
Archer Daniels Midland Gives Grant, Minnesota Children’s Book Festival, Fiscal Years 2016 & 2017, $1,000/year
Minnesota State Arts Board, General Operating Support Grant, $23,022 for Fiscal Year 2017-18
Annual $25,000 raised by Acuff Circle of Excellence (patron society of the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts) for scholarships toward nontraditional freshman fine arts students entering Austin Peay State University
Austin Peay State University Technology Grant toward the Student Innovation Hub (a CECA incubator where student interns created marking materials for fine arts events), $9,700
Dedication of the George and Sharon Mabry Concert Hall on November 11, 2012, toward the Center Capital Campaign, $500,000
In-kind donations toward the Center Capital Campaign of 2 William Edmondson sculptures (appraised between $750,000 to $1 million); 2 19th-century portraits of Charles and Caroline Meriwether by John Grimes (unofficial appraisal $15,000); 38-piece collection of Tennessee folk art, one item being a one-of-a-kind (unofficial appraisal $40,000)
Arts Project Support Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission toward the 2013 Gateway Chamber Orchestra season, $3,000
Arts Project Support Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission toward the 2013 Clarksville Writers’ Conference, $4,450
Arts Project Support Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission toward the 2011 Clarksville Writers’ Conference, $5,300
Arts Project Support Grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission toward the 2010 Clarksville Writers’ Conference, $4,500
Southern Arts (formerly, Southern Arts Federation) toward Tour of Southern Independent Filmmakers, 2009 – 2010, $5,000 (in partnership with the Customs House Museum and Cultural Center)
National Endowment for the Arts State Arts Agency Grant, responsible for media section of the grant application, 2006 – 2008
Creative Capital State Research Project Grant toward research on existing support structures for innovative Arizona artists, 2006
Assisted Professor Don Herring in securing $100,000 NIH Phase 1 Grant: “Development of a Load-limiting Wheelchair Securing System,” 2002. (This grant helped establish the School of Design Human Factors Lab.)

PARTNERSHIPS & COLLABORATIONS

Partnered with the following organizations for the Anderson Center’s programming: Goodhue County Historical Society, Red Wing Arts Association, Art Reach, Sheldon Theatre, Universal Music Center, HOPE Coalition, Minnesota Correctional Facility – Red Wing, Goodhue County Adult Detention Center, Minnesota Audubon, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Red Wing School District, Every Hand Joined, SparkZ! A New Summer Adventure, a 2-week summer camp for middle school students, 2015 – 2017.
Minnesota premiere of Two Trains Runnin’, a documentary film directed by Sam Pollard, with the Sheldon Theatre and Flyway Film Festival, March 16, 2017.
SparkZ! A Summer Adventure (a summer day camp for middle school children), with the Jones Family Foundation and Red Wing Area Fund, July – August 2016; July – August 2017.
Tennessee Young Writers’ Workshop, with Humanities Tennessee, Austin Peay State University, 2009 – 2015.
Robert Penn Warren Circle, professional development panels for Clarksville-Montgomery County educators in teaching classes using texts by Robert Penn Warren, 2011-2015.
Clarksville-Montgomery County School District, professional development program for arts educators, 2009 – 2015.
Wilber N. Daniel African American Cultural Center, Austin Peay State University, Black History Month readings (Afaa Michael Weaver, 2010; and Harlym 125, 2011).
Customs House Museum and Cultural Center (Tour of Southern Independent Filmmakers, 2009 – 2010; Youth Literacy Program co-sponsoring a reading by John Erickson of Hank the Cowdog stories, 2010).
“Love Buttons, Love Bites,” with intermedia artist Gregory Sale, Phoenix, Arizona, 2008. www.love-buttons.com/index.html