I am a poet and writer who resides in rural southwestern Virginia (known far and wide as Southwest Virginia). I have lived in here since 1987 and call this place home. I am available for readings and/or workshops within my community or nearby (farther afield with time to plan). I can work virtually as necessary with individual classes and/or events. I volunteer my time, no stipend expected, if the work serves a special population within driving (or virtual) distance such as a school, nursing home, medical facility, etc. Workshop experience includes a range of venues, from schools to nursing homes. Along with workshops related to poetry, I have experience with Gingko walks for haiku and with workshops helping family members to compose the stories of loved ones who can no longer tell their own stories. Email me by clicking on CONTACT above.
Brief Biography
I was born in 1956 in Sumter, South Carolina, to John A. and Audrey McClary Mitchell, and grew up with three brothers in rural South Carolina and on the coast of North Carolina before moving to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1966. (One brother, C. Talmadge Mitchell, writes fiction.) In Columbia, I attended A.C. Moore Elementary School, Hand Junior High School, and Booker T. Washington High School before attending the University of South Carolina (BA, 1977, and MA, 1980). After moving to Athens, Georgia, for four years, where I worked many jobs (from biscuit cook to typesetter at the now defunct Athens Observer), I moved to Austin, Texas, to attend The University of Texas at Austin for a PhD (1987). At that point, the plan was to become a scholarly professional and put the poetry aside. Fortunately, my mentor in the Ph.D. program, Dr. Ed Farrell, and my supervisor at my first job when I arrived, Albert Huffstickler, put that notion out of my head within months. In Austin, I attended Albert Huffstickler's poetry workshops and started publishing poetry and teaching workshops (Texas Union Informal Classes). In 1987, I moved to the mountains of Virginia, where I served on the faculty of Emory & Henry College, teaching creative writing and English (as well as doing many administrative and service-related tasks), until 2020. In 2013, I was privileged to add the James A. Davis Faculty Award given by the Emory & Henry College Alumni Association to my list of awards. November 2020, I was awarded Professor Emeritus status.
My poetry tends to explore family roots and the natural world, with inspiration being drawn from people I have known, family members I wish I had known, the medical world, my yard and trails farther afield, and archetypal myths. Poems have appeared in a number of journals over the years, including The Examined Life Journal, Hospital Drive, and Columbia. A Journal of Literature & Art. Poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, with "My Turn Out of the Box" (Referential Magazine) being named a finalist for Best of the Net in 2010. Some links to online journals are available on this website. Chapbooks include Earthenware Fertility Figure (Talent House Press, 1999) and The Cleft of the Rock (Finishing Line Press, 2009). Case Hysteries, published by Mellen in 1996 (out of print), is a short collection of dramatic monologues and dialogues based on five of Freud's case histories of women traumatized by sexual abuse. Waltzing with Horses, my first full-length collection of poems, is available from Press 53 (2014). My latest book, many years in the making, is A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens. Journeying Together Through Dementia from Wising Up Press (2022)
In addition to poetry, I have published scholarly articles, creative nonfiction, and some fiction. Her Words. Diverse Voices in Contemporary Appalachian Women's Poetry (University of Tennessee Press, 2002) is an edited book of poems, critical essays, and interviews focusing on women in Appalachia. Scholarly articles on poetry have appeared in Interdisciplinary Humanities, Poets & Writers, Mid-American Review, Phoebe: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Feminist Research, Theory, and Aesthetics, and elsewhere. In Athens, I wrote the occasional column or review for The Athens Observer, and other local publications. For ten years, 2003-2012, I wrote a weekly column for Washington County News. Currently, now and then, I write blogs as a Voices columnist for Cure Today, where I share my experiences with cancer (and lymphedema) and a little advice based on my own experiences surviving invasive ductal carcinoma. For many years, I have enjoyed being a poetry reviewer for Weber Journal. The Contemporary West, edited by Michael Wutz at Ogden State University.
My leisure time is spent hiking, knitting, reading, enjoying my yard, and sometimes visiting others farther afield, including my son Guy Love and his family. A poem about a younger Guy entitled "Up From Tumbling Creek," selected by Claudia Emerson on behalf of the Poetry Society of Virginia in 2010 for a Metrorail Public Art Project, appears in the Greensboro Metro station in the Dulles Corridor in northern Virginia.
Brief Biography
I was born in 1956 in Sumter, South Carolina, to John A. and Audrey McClary Mitchell, and grew up with three brothers in rural South Carolina and on the coast of North Carolina before moving to Columbia, South Carolina, in 1966. (One brother, C. Talmadge Mitchell, writes fiction.) In Columbia, I attended A.C. Moore Elementary School, Hand Junior High School, and Booker T. Washington High School before attending the University of South Carolina (BA, 1977, and MA, 1980). After moving to Athens, Georgia, for four years, where I worked many jobs (from biscuit cook to typesetter at the now defunct Athens Observer), I moved to Austin, Texas, to attend The University of Texas at Austin for a PhD (1987). At that point, the plan was to become a scholarly professional and put the poetry aside. Fortunately, my mentor in the Ph.D. program, Dr. Ed Farrell, and my supervisor at my first job when I arrived, Albert Huffstickler, put that notion out of my head within months. In Austin, I attended Albert Huffstickler's poetry workshops and started publishing poetry and teaching workshops (Texas Union Informal Classes). In 1987, I moved to the mountains of Virginia, where I served on the faculty of Emory & Henry College, teaching creative writing and English (as well as doing many administrative and service-related tasks), until 2020. In 2013, I was privileged to add the James A. Davis Faculty Award given by the Emory & Henry College Alumni Association to my list of awards. November 2020, I was awarded Professor Emeritus status.
My poetry tends to explore family roots and the natural world, with inspiration being drawn from people I have known, family members I wish I had known, the medical world, my yard and trails farther afield, and archetypal myths. Poems have appeared in a number of journals over the years, including The Examined Life Journal, Hospital Drive, and Columbia. A Journal of Literature & Art. Poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, with "My Turn Out of the Box" (Referential Magazine) being named a finalist for Best of the Net in 2010. Some links to online journals are available on this website. Chapbooks include Earthenware Fertility Figure (Talent House Press, 1999) and The Cleft of the Rock (Finishing Line Press, 2009). Case Hysteries, published by Mellen in 1996 (out of print), is a short collection of dramatic monologues and dialogues based on five of Freud's case histories of women traumatized by sexual abuse. Waltzing with Horses, my first full-length collection of poems, is available from Press 53 (2014). My latest book, many years in the making, is A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens. Journeying Together Through Dementia from Wising Up Press (2022)
In addition to poetry, I have published scholarly articles, creative nonfiction, and some fiction. Her Words. Diverse Voices in Contemporary Appalachian Women's Poetry (University of Tennessee Press, 2002) is an edited book of poems, critical essays, and interviews focusing on women in Appalachia. Scholarly articles on poetry have appeared in Interdisciplinary Humanities, Poets & Writers, Mid-American Review, Phoebe: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Feminist Research, Theory, and Aesthetics, and elsewhere. In Athens, I wrote the occasional column or review for The Athens Observer, and other local publications. For ten years, 2003-2012, I wrote a weekly column for Washington County News. Currently, now and then, I write blogs as a Voices columnist for Cure Today, where I share my experiences with cancer (and lymphedema) and a little advice based on my own experiences surviving invasive ductal carcinoma. For many years, I have enjoyed being a poetry reviewer for Weber Journal. The Contemporary West, edited by Michael Wutz at Ogden State University.
My leisure time is spent hiking, knitting, reading, enjoying my yard, and sometimes visiting others farther afield, including my son Guy Love and his family. A poem about a younger Guy entitled "Up From Tumbling Creek," selected by Claudia Emerson on behalf of the Poetry Society of Virginia in 2010 for a Metrorail Public Art Project, appears in the Greensboro Metro station in the Dulles Corridor in northern Virginia.
- Review of A Mother Speaks, A Daughter Listens by Claire Matturro. Southern Literary Review, 2 January 2023
- A! Magazine, Mitchell Reads from Her Poetry at Library, 27 December 2022
- Cliff Garstang, "I've Got Questions for Felicia Mitchell, 1 September 2022
- A! Magazine, "Poet Deals With Mother's Dementia," 29 August 2022
- Carolyn Wilson, "Mother's Journey with Dementia Leads Former Professor to Write Heartwarming Book," 21 August 2022
- Carolyn Wilson, "Poem from Local Author Immortalized in Metro," Washington County News, 21 August 2018
- "Interview: Featured Writers," Young Scribblers, March 2016
- "Pondering Life through Poetry: Felicia Mitchell," USC Honors College News, 28 April 2015
- "USC Honors College Alumni Spotlight, Aïda Rogers' Interview with Felicia Mitchell," 28 April 2015
- "Mitchell Publishes New Book, Reading Set for Dec. 3," Bristol Herald Courier, 1 December 2014
- "Mitchell Book to Be Celebrated in Sept. 4 Launch," Emory & Henry College Press Release, 1 September 2014
- "Writing Informs Thinking, Shapes Futures," Emory & Henry College, 28 August 2014
- Carolyn Wilson, "Emory Poet Releases Book," Washington County News (VA), 27 August 2014
- "Professor's Poetry Published in New Book," A! Magazine for the Arts, 27 August 2014
- Press 53: 5 Questions, 3 Facts (Interview), 25 August 2014
- Laura Mondul, "Poet Finds Inspiration in Nature," Bristol Herald Courier, 2011
- "Professors Pen Anthem to Capture College's Legacy and Vision," A! Magazine for the Arts, 2007
Directory Information
This website was last updated 6 October 2024. Unless there is a credit to another photographer, all images are by Felicia Mitchell. The images in the headers are wildflowers from my photos taken on the Virginia Creeper Trail.