Cathryn Hankla
Cathryn Hankla is an American poet, novelist, essayist and author of short stories. She is professor emerita of English and Creative Writing at Hollins University in Hollins, Virginia, and served as inaugural director of Hollins' from 2008 to 2012.
Hankla is the author of more than a dozen books of poetry and prose. Her writing has been published in multiple journals and anthologies, including the Chicago Tribune, Ploughshares, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Missouri Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Shenandoah, Denver Quarterly, Prairie Schooner, Passages North,, and .
While at Hollins, Hankla was appointed Susan Gager Jackson Professor of Creative Writing. She twice chaired the university's English and Creative Writing department and taught courses in image/word, drawing, writing, cartooning, and filmmaking, in addition to literature and creative writing. Additionally, Hankla has held teaching appointments at Washington and Lee University, Randolph Macon Women's College and the University of Virginia. She has served as Poetry Editor for , a literary journal, since 1996.
Life
Hankla was born in the Appalachian town of Richlands, Virginia. She currently resides in Roanoke, Virginia and operates a painting studio. She collaborates with artists of various disciplines as part of her generative process. Much of her work is featured onPublications
Hankla's 14 books of poetry and prose include Lost Places: On Losing and Finding Home, Galaxies, Great Bear, Fortune Teller, Miracle Fish, Last Exposures: A Sequence of Poems, and Texas School Book Depository: Prose Poems..Essays
Lost Places: On Losing and Finding Home Mercer University Press. 2018.Novels
The Land Between Baskerville Publishers. 2003. A Blue Moon in Poorwater Ticknor and Fields. 1988. Reprinted University Press of Virginia. 1998.Poetry
Return to a Certain Region of Consciousness: New and Selected Poems Mercer University Press. 2025. Immortal Stuff: Prose Poems Mercer University Press. 2023. Not Xanadu Mercer University Press. 2022. Galaxies Mercer University Press. 2017. Great Bear Groundhog Poetry Press, LLC. 2016. Last Exposures: A Sequence of Poems Louisiana State University Press. 2004. Poems for the Pardoned Louisiana State University Press. 2002. Emerald City Blues Tryon Publishing Co. 2002. Texas School Book Depository: Prose Poems Louisiana State University Press. 2000. Negative History Louisiana State University Press. 1997. Afterimages Louisiana State University Press. 1991. Phenomena University of Missouri Press. 1983.Short story collections
Fortune Teller Miracle Fish Michigan State University Press. 2011. Learning the Mother Tongue University of Missouri Press. 1987.Chapbooks and monographs
Imaginative Thinking: Expressive Writing and Drawing. Nancy Dahlstrom and Cathryn Hankla. Hollins University Press. 2003.Cool Water: An Interview and New Poems. Yarrow Chapbook Series. 1992.Journal features
- Hankla's poem "What Falls" featured in A Cast Iron Airplane That Can Actually Fly: Contemporary Poets Comment on Their Prose Poems MadHat Press. 2019.
- Hankla's poem "Two-Chambered Heart" featured in A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia University of Georgia Press. 2019.
Awards and recognition
Writing
Among various other recognitions, Hankla has received a Virginia Commission for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, a PEN Syndicated Fiction Prize, and the James Boatwright III Prize for her poem "Bee Tree." Her first book of poetry, , reviewed by NPR as one of the five best collections of the year, and her story collection Learning the Mother Tongue were both Breakthrough Series winners.Two volumes of Hankla's poetry have been finalists in the, and Great Bear ). Her short story "Powerful Angels," originally published in , was listed in Best American Short Stories' "100 Other Distinguished Short Stories".
Hankla's early papers are archived at in Richmond, Virginia.
Visual art
Hankla’s geometric abstract paintings were included in and have been selected for national juried shows. Her paintings hang in private and corporate collections in Arizona, Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Virginia.Education
Hankla attended in Dublin, Virginia, where she was involved with drama, band, filmmaking, and photography. She served as editor of the student literary magazine, Inklings.Hankla later received her Bachelor of Arts in English and Film from Hollins College in Hollins, Virginia in 1980. She earned her Master of Arts in English and Creative Writing from Hollins in 1982.
Academic appointments
- Chairperson, Department of English and Creative Writing, Hollins University.
- Director, MFA and Undergraduate Creative Writing, Jackson Center for Creative Writing, Hollins University.
- Coordinator, Graduate Teaching Fellows, Hollins University.
- Director, Graduate Teaching Fellows, Hollins University.
- Chair, Department of English, Hollins University.
- Chair, Imagination Studies Pathway, Hollins University.