| Rachel Harkai |
EDUCATION
September 2003 – May 2007
University of Michigan Honors Program Ann Arbor, MI
Double-concentration in Creative Writing & Comparative Literature
Septermber 1999 – May 2003
Forest Hills Northern High School Grand Rapids, MI
Salutatorian, Summa Cum Laude
EXPERIENCE
June 2007 - present
Hub City Writers Project, Spartanburg, SC
Writer-in-Residence
Hub City Writers Project is a non-profit independent press and literary arts organization that publishes place—based books and sponsors a year-long, all-expenses paid writer-in-residence position. Aside from an emphasis on the creation of personal work, responsibilities include editing of publications, recording and editing interviews of and readings by local authors, hosting literary events, and running creative writing workshops at local high schools and universities.
September 2006 – May 2007
The Living Writers Show, WCBN FM 88.3 , Ann Arbor, MI
Co-Host and Producer
The Living Writers Show, a literary talk radio show, is a forum where poets & prose writers read from their work and talk about their passions and preoccupations. Live interviews have included conversations with emerging and established writers from five continents - Poets Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winners, MacArthur Award winners, and presidential candidates, all of whom share a commitment to literature and a willingness to participate in substantive conversation on-the-air about writing and the writing life.
January 2007 – May 2007
Freeform with Rachel Harkai, WCBN-FM 88.3 , Ann Arbor, MI
DJ
Music programming with an emphasis on alternative broadcasting.
September 2006 - May 2007
University Musical Society, Ann Arbor, MI
Student Intern
One of the oldest performing arts presenters in the country, UMS is a not-for-profit organization that presents 60-75 performances and over 100 free educational activities each year, including commissioning new work and sponsoring artist residencies. Responsibilities include providing phone and administrative support to office staff, representing the University Musical Society to patrons, having basic knowledge of performers, repertory, and performance venues, having a deep understanding of all policies and procedures for assisting patrons, posting outgoing mail and sort incoming mail, and maintaining the ticket office filing system.
PUBLICATIONS
April 2008
Two poems, “1/2” and “2/2,” forthcoming in Hotel Amerika
March 2008
Editor of Hub City Writers Project 's latest release, Still Home: The Essential Poetry of Spartanburg , an anthology of South Carolinian poetry
February 2008
One poem, “Perennial,” in the Spring 2008 issue of Portland Review
September 2007
Four poems from a series titled "Myrmecology" published in Michigan Quarterly Review
August 2007
Nonfiction essay "The Silence of Objects" published in Oleander Review
June 2007
Four poems, “Summa Izbu,” “Survival of the Fittest,” “Thermopolis, Wyoming,” and “Lacunar,” published in Spork literary magazine
AWARDS RECEIVED
2007 Hopwood Undergraduate Poetry Award Winner
Awarded for the poetry manuscript, "In Danger" as selected by Major Jackson and Chase Twichell
2007 Paul and Sonia Handleman Poetry Award
Awarded to the first-prize Hopwood Award poetry manuscript
2007 Hopwood Undergraduate Nonfiction Award Winner
Awarded for the essay, "The Silence of Objects"
2006 Hopwood Undergraduate Nonfiction Award Winner
Awarded for the nonfiction essay “ The Outsider ,” as selected by essayist Jane Brox
SELECTED READINGS/INSTALLATIONS/EXHIBITONS
March 2008
Artist-in-Residence Exit Show/Reading – Hub City Writers Project, Spartanburg, SC
Solo Reading/Exhibition
January 2008
Oleander Review Launch Reading – Shaman Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, MI
Group Reading with poet Cyan James and novelist Elizabeth Kostova
September 2007
We Live Here Now – Spartanburg, SC
Five-day performative installation living, working, eating, and sleeping in the storefront windows of 100 East Main Street in downtown Spartanburg
June 2007
Artist-in-Residence Entrance Reading – Hub City Writers Project, Spartanburg, SC
Solo Reading
March 2007
Undergraduate Creative Writing Thesis Reading
Featured Poet
November 2006
Work-in-Progress Reading Series - Crazy Wisdom Bookshop, Ann Arbor, MI
Featured Poet
September 2006
Pi Complex - a video poem by Thylias Moss: http://playgallery.org/videos/100/
Actor
March 2006
Cafe Shapiro Reading Series – U-M Libraries, Ann Arbor, MI
Featured Poet