UIUC Creative Writing

Janice N. Harrington writes poetry and children's books. Her first book of poetry, Even the Hollow My Body Made Is Gone (2007), won the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize from BOA Editions and the Kate Tufts Discovery Prize. She is also the winner of a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship for Poetry. Her latest children's book, The Chicken Chasing Queen of Lamar County (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) was published in March 2007 and was named one of Time magazine's Top 10 Children's Books of 2007. Her previous children's book, Going North (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004), won the Ezra Jack Keats Award from the New York Public Library as well as many other awards and citations. Harrington's poetry appears regularly in American literary magazines and has led to awards from the Illinois Arts Council and appearances on Poetry Daily and Verse Daily. She previously worked as a public librarian and as a professional storyteller, telling stories at festivals around the country, including the National Storytelling Festival. She is currently at work on a new collection of poetry.