Niki HerdAssistant Professor of English
Education
B.A., University of Arizona
M.F.A., Antioch University Los Angeles
Ph.D., University of Houston
Biography
My work is in the field of documentary poetics. I believe what we write exists in the context of our historical moment and can be shaped into a cultural record that profoundly connects us to readers, future writers, and that part of ourselves we have yet to mine. I am particularly drawn to works by writers or color, feminist texts, and those that force us to reconsider traditional notions of genre. There is much division and discontent in the world and my classroom aims to be different; to be an engaging and safe space that fosters listening and support. If we believe a piece of art—a movie, a poem, or a short story—should bring its viewer or reader into a new world emotionally or intellectually, then my classroom is always asking the question: how does the writing get closer to making this connection happen?
The Stuff of Hollywood (Copper Canyon Press, 2024) _________ , don’t you weep (Sting & Honey Press, 2022) Laura Hershey: On the Life & Work of an American Master (Pleiades Press, 2018) The Language of Shedding Skin (Main Street Rag, 2011) “Each year she sits costumed,” American Poets, 2024 “Yesterday, the ABC Affiliate,” Pleiades 44.1, 2024 “From The Stuff of Hollywood,” Academy of American Poets Poem-a-Day, 2024 “Lyric Sung in Third Person,” Poetry Daily, 2023 “Aubade for the Late, Great Show,” New England Review, 2022Publications
Books
Journals