Astronomer in Residence: Lauren Camp

New Mexico Poet Laureate Lauren Camp is the author of five poetry collections, most recently Took House (Tupelo Press, 2020). Two new collections, Worn Smooth Between Devourings (NYQ Books) and An Eye in Each Square (River River Books), are forthcoming in 2023.

One Hundred Hungers (Tupelo Press, 2016) won the Dorset Prize. It was also a finalist for the Arab American Book Award, the Housatonic Book Award and the Sheila Margaret Motton Prize. Turquoise Door: Finding Mabel Dodge Luhan in New Mexico (3: A Taos Press, 2018) was a finalist for the New Mexico-Arizona Book Award.

Her poems have appeared in many journals and anthologies, including Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, The Los Angeles Review, Poet Lore, Beloit Poetry Journal, Witness and The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day. Her work has been translated into Turkish, Mandarin, Serbian, Arabic and Spanish.

Honors include Astronomer in Residence at Grand Canyon National Park, fellowships from Denver Botanic Gardens and Black Earth Institute, and a visiting writer position at the Mayo Clinic (MN). She will be an artist in residence at Lowell Observatory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in 2023.

Lauren was guest editor for Malpaís Review (poetry of Iraq), World Literature Today (two issues: international jazz poetry, and the intersection of contemporary visual art and poetry), and About Place Journal (“Roots and Resistance”). She is also a Senior Reader for Mimbres Press.

She has pivoted from a successful career as a visual artist (1996-2008). Her portrait series, “The Fabric of Jazz,” traveled to museums in ten cities. More artwork can be found in cultural centers, hospitals, museums, U.S. embassies and other organizations around the world. For 15 years, she was a producer and host for Santa Fe Public Radio.

Lauren lives in New Mexico, where she teaches through the state’s Poetry Out Loud program and her own community workshops.

For more information about Camp, visit laurencamp.com.