Curriculum Vita

MARGO TAFT STEVER

Sleepy Hollow, N.Y. 10591-1412
Telephone: 914-391-5018 (cell)
margostever@gmail.com
www.margotaftstever.com

EDUCATION
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts A.B. Degree, 1972. Cum Laude.
Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Ed.M. Degree.
Reading and Human Development, 1974.
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York. M.F.A., Poetry, 1988.

BOOKS & CHAPBOOKS
The End of Horses, Broadstone Books, Frankfort, Kentucky, 2022.
Cracked Piano, LaurelBooks Imprint, CavanKerry Press, Fort Lee, New Jersey, 2019.
Ghost Moose, Kattywompus Press, Somerville, Massachusetts, 2019.
The Lunatic Ball, Kattywompus Press, Somerville, Massachusetts, 2015.
Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Asia, The Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods, by Margo Taft Stever and James Taft Stever, Zhejiang University Press (Chinese edition) 2012; Orange Frazier Press (English edition published through a collaboration between Zhejiang University Press and University and the University of Cincinnati) 2015.
The Hudson Line, Main Street Rag, Charlotte, North Carolina, 2012.
Frozen Spring, First Series Award for Poetry, Mid-List Press,  Minneapolis, Minnesota, 2002.
Reading the Night Sky, Winner of the Riverstone Poetry Chapbook Contest, West Chester, Pennsylvania, 1996 (Introduction by Denise Levertov).

SELECTED POETRY JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS

Pedestal Magazine 93.5, 2024; “Changeling,”; The Red Wheelbarrow, “Horse and Rider, Falling,” 2023; Verse Daily, May 21, 2022, August 3, 2019, and March 3, 2019; upstreet, number eighteen, 2022; Mom Egg Review, 2022; Split Rock Review, 2022; Plant-Human Quarterly, 2021; Sisyphus Literary Magazine, 2021; Canary Literary Journal, Spring, 2020, Autumn, 2019; Plume Poetry Journal, 2019; upstreet, 2018; Poetry Flash, September 2017; Salamander, 2017, 2014; Blackbird, 2016, 2014; A Poetry Congery, Connotations Press: An Online Artifact, April, 2016, The Academy of American Poets, Poem-a-Day, March, 2016; Prairie Schooner, 2014; Connecticut Review, 2012, 2005, 2002; Rattapallax, 2006; The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, Autumn, 2005; The Cincinnati Review, Spring, 2004; Lumina, Summer, 2004, Spring, 2003; Sarah Lawrence, Vol. 74, 2002; New World Poetry (Five poems from Frozen Spring translated into Chinese by Jianqing Zheng), 74, 2002; Poet Lore, Volume 96, Number 1, 2001; West Branch, Vol. 44, 1999; Nightsun, Vol. 18, 1998; West Branch, Vol. 41, 1997, Vol. 12, 1983; The Seattle Review, Vol. XV, No.1, 1992; Potato Eyes, Issue No. 6, Fall/Winter, 1991-1992. Chelsea, Vol. 47, 1988; Ironwood, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1987; The Sarah Lawrence Review, 1987; The Croton Review, No. 9, 1986; Folio, American University, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1986; The Webster Review, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1983; Poetry Now, Vol. VII, No. 1, 1982; Poet Lore, Vol. 77, No.3, 1982; The G.W. Review, Vol. 2, Nos. 4/5 & 2, 1981; The Washington Dossier, 1981; Phoebe, Vol. 9, Nos. 1 & 2, 1979; The New England Review, Vol. II, No. 2, 1979; The Harvard Advocate 125th Anniversary Edition, Fall, 1971; Hanging Loose, Fall, 1970.

SELECTED RECENT ANTHOLOGIES

“The Lunatic Ball,” Carnyx Collective Anthology, Volume 1, edited by Pendraig the Poet, 2024. “Idiot’s Guide to Counting,” Greening the Earth, a Global Anthology of Poetry, edited by K. Satchidanandan, Nishi Chawla, Penguin Random House India, 2023; “Summer House,” “Elegy for a Blue Spruce, and “The Nunnery,” Up for the Season: Memories of Summer at Biddeford Pool, edited by Janice Hamilton and Christy Bergland, 2023; “No Book,” Appreciating Tender Buttons: An Invitation to Play,” Volume I, edited by Karren Alenier, The Word Works, 2023; “Beauty Parlor,” I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe, edited by Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever, Milk & Cake Press, 2022; “Stepmother,” Dead of Winter II Anthology, edited by Kim Jacobs-Beth and Miranda Scharf, Milk & Cake Press, 2022; “Beula Reid,” I Thought I Heard a Cardinal Sing, Ohio’s Appalachian Voices, edited by Kari Gunter-Seymour, Sheila-Na-Gig Editions, 2021; “Splitting Wood,” Places We Return To: A Celebration of Twenty Years Publishing Fine Literature, 2000-2020, edited by Joan Cussak Handler and Gabriel Cleveland, CavanKerry Press, 2020; “Ballad of the Dolphin,” Rewilding: Poems for the Environment; “Three Raven’s Watch,” Poetics for the More-Than-Human-World: An Anthology of Poetry and Community (dispatchespoetrywars.com), co-edited by Mary Newell, Bernard Quetchenbach, and Sarah Nolan, 2020; “A Little Bit Morning,” “The Nightly Weeping Rock,” and “Night Rising,” Things That Go Bump: A Collective Work, SEZ Publishing, 2020; “Ghost Moose,” A Dangerous New World: Maine Voices on the Climate Crisis, edited by Meghan Sterling and Kathleen Sullivan, Littoral Books, Portland Maine, 2019; “Queen City,” Boom Project Anthology, edited by Kimberly Garts Crum and Bonnie Omer Johnson, Butler Books, Louisville, Kentucky, 2019; “Braids,” Last Call: The Anthology of Beer, Wine & Spirits Poetry, Edited by James Bertolino, World Enough Writers Publications, Tillamook, Oregon, 2018; “Nothing’s Holding up Nothing,” Pirene’s Fountain: Collateral Damage, edited by Ami Kaye, Glass Lyre Press, 2018; “Idiot’s Guide to Counting,” Reflecting Pool: Poets and the Creative Process,” Codhill Press, edited by Laurance Carr, 2018; “Nightly Weeping Rock,” Undead: An Anthology of Ghouls, Ghosts, and More, edited by Bianca Lynne Spriggs and Katerina Stoykova, Apex Publications, 2018.

PUBLISHED REVIEWS, ESSAYS, CRITICISM, AND TRANSLATIONS  
“William Howard Taft: Tortoise, Hare, or Fox,” What the Presidents Read: Childhood Stories and Family Favorites, edited by Elizabeth Goodenough and Marilynn Olson, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2024; BigCityLit, “Cover Story,” Fall/Winter, 2019; Inkwell, Spring 2018, “Review of Here We Are: A Gallery of Poems,” by Dan Masterson, Grolier Poetry Press, 2014; Valley Voices, 2015, “Review of Wake,” by Laura Madeline Wiseman, Spring, 2015; Home Planet News, “Review of Late for Work,” David Tucker, 2006; New Delta Review, “Review of Persuasions of Fall,” Ann Lauinger, 2005; The Connecticut Review, “Searching for Tom Moore,” Spring, 2005; Poets & Writers, “Poetry.com Struggles for Legitimacy,” November/December, 2004; CALYX, A Journal of Art & Literature by Women, Vol. 22, No. 1, Summer, 2004. “Review of Shards,” Ann Holmes; Rain Taxi Review, “Review of Bright Turquoise Umbrella,” Hermine Meinhard, Summer, 2004; “Renditions,” The Research Centre for Translation of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Translation of two poems with Jianqing Zheng, No. 59/60 2003; The Minnesota Review, Review of Heaven and Heck, Denise Duhamel, and Timepiece, Jane Flanders, 1989.

RECENT TEACHING AND LECTURE EXPERIENCE
Hudson Valley Writers Center outreach program, taught numerous poetry workshops for children over a period of twenty-years, including Children’s Village, a residential school for at-risk children and adolescents, from 2018-present.
Poetry Reading and Lecture, November 15, 2021, Case Western Reserve, Bioethics Department of School of Medicine, presented a three-hour class including two poetry readings, lecture on poetry, bioethics, illness, welfare of animals, and poetry workshop on epistolary poems.
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Poetry and Bioethics Workshop and Course, Spring 2021.
Hudson Valley Writers Center outreach program, taught numerous poetry workshops for children over a period of twenty-years, including Children’s Village from 2018-present.
Co-taught class and gave poetry reading from Cracked Piano for bioethics class, “Mental Illness and Bioethics in Film and Literature,” at Case Western Reserve University, November 15, 2019.
With Xuemo Wang, Dean, University of Cincinnati Libraries, and Professor Hong Shen, Zhejiang University, presented lecture and reading from Looking East at University of Cincinnati, Langsam Library, June 25, 2015.
With Professor Hong Shen from Zhejiang University, Hanghzhou, China, presented reading and lecture from Looking East at Joseph-Beth Bookstore, Cincinnati, Ohio, June 24, 2015.
Public lecture with Professor Hong Shen of Zhejiang University on Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Asia, The Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods, February 13, 2014, 10:00 to 12:00, Bauer Room, sponsored by the University of Cincinnati Libraries.

ARTISTIC AND PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1989-2024, Founding Editor, Slapering Hol Press, Sleepy Hollow, New York. Designed and developed Slapering Hol Press, the small press imprint of The Hudson Valley Writers Center (www.writerscenter.org). Co-edit and publish the annual poetry chapbook winner of the Slapering Hol Press Chapbook Contest, the “Conversation” series consisting of a well- known poet who chooses and appears in the same chapbook with an emerging poet, poetry anthologies, and special collections.
2018-2022, Member Teatown Lake Reservation Advisory Committee.
2004-2009, Director, exhibition, Looking East: William Howard Taft and the 1905 Mission to Asia, the Photographs of Harry Fowler Woods. Developed exhibition team, selected photographs for exhibition, research and writing text for exhibition, fundraising, writing of museum catalogue, and developing traveling exhibit. Opening in 2007 at William Howard Taft National Historic Site, and traveling exhibitions followed at The Nippon Club Gallery, New York, the Old Forge Arts Center, Old Forge, New York; and 2008 Hangzhou International Symposium on Sinology and Sino-Foreign Relations and Exchanges at Zhejiang University.
1990-2011, Board Member, The Hudson Valley Writers Center. Served on Development, Program, and Benefit Committees.
1988-2001, Chairperson, Board of Directors, founder and member of Board of Directors, The Hudson Valley Writers Center, Inc. (HVWC), Sleepy Hollow, New York. served as executive director from 1989 to 1995 until the first paid, full-time executive director was hired.
1982-1987, The Warner Library, Tarrytown, New York. Organized and directed the Sleepy Hollow Poetry Series. Read and selected manuscripts for reading series. Wrote and administered grants.
9/76-9/77, The New Hampshire Civil Liberties Union, Concord, New Hampshire. Paralegal and program development position. Responsibilities included intake, research, and screening of cases. Worked with a legal panel and cooperating attorneys. Formulated and implemented ideas for program development, membership recruitment, and fundraising.
6/75-7/76, The Krebs School, Lexington, Massachusetts. Classroom teacher for learning disabled and emotionally disturbed junior high school students. Responsibilities involved teaching reading, math, grammar, literature, and social studies. Wrote quarterly case reports on all students. Developed format for school Educational Plan to fit Massachusetts state requirements.
8/74-6/75, Office of Ted Stevens, Washington, D.C. Responsibilities included responding to legislative and constituent inquiries, writing three special interest newsletters, attending committee hearings, working on legislation, and representing Senator Stevens at conferences in Alaska. Worked in areas of education, health, women’s rights, and revenue sharing.
2/74-8/75, Walker Home for Children, Needham, Massachusetts. Tutored pre-delinquent and learning- disabled children in reading. Organized and implemented language arts and reading program for summer school class.

POETRY READINGS
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY, March 1987
The Riverrun Bookstore, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY January 1986
The Folger Shakespeare Library, Mid-day Muse Series, Washington, DC., 1983
The Poet and the Poem, Hosted by Grace Cavalieri, Pacific Broadcasting Affiliate, Washington, DC. 1983.
The Bethesda Library, The Kensington Library, The Washington’s Women’s Art Center, The Positively Prince Street Reading Series, and the Georgetown Poetry Festival, Washington, C.C., 1981-81.

PHOTOGRAPHY PUBLICATIONS
Cover photograph by Margo Taft for Celebrating in Action, United Church Press, Philadelphia, 1971.
Cover photograph by Margo Taft for Relearning the Alphabet, by Denise Levertov, New Directions Press, 1970.
Photographs by Margo Taft for The Movement Towards a New America, edited by Mitchell Goodman, Pilgrim Press, 1970.
Photographs published in The Harvard Advocate, April, 1970.
Cover photograph by Margo Taft and photographs published in “Connection,” Graduate School of Design, Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, and Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University, Spring, 1969.

BOARD MEMBERSHIPS
1988-2001, Chairperson of the Board of Directors, The Hudson Valley Writers Center, Sleepy Hollow, New York.
1984-85, 1987-88, Sleepy Hollow Nursery School, Scarborough, NY.
1983-84, 1985-86, Tarrytown Cooperative Nursery School
1977-78, Secretary, New Hampshire Pro Bono Referral System, New Hampshire Bar Association

SELECTED CONTESTS AND AWARDS
“Horse and Rider, Falling,” published in the Red Wheelbarrow and nominated by editors for a 2024 Pushcart Prize; The End of Horses, 2023 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished favorite in the Poetry category; and 2022 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, one of three books designated best book in the Poetry category; I Wanna Be Loved by You: Poems on Marilyn Monroe, edited by Susana H. Case and Margo Taft Stever, 2022 Pinnacle Book Achievement Award, Best Book (Sole Winner) in the Anthology Category; Finalist for the International Book Award and American Book Fest in the Anthology Category; 2021 Eric Hoffer Book Award Grand Prize, Cracked Piano, Honorable Mention and Shortlisted; Excerpt from Stever’s poem, “The Hudson Line,” Winner, Poetry in the Pavement Contest, February, 2018; Crab Orchard Series in Poetry Book Contest, Semi-finalist, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011; CRACKED PIANO, Semi-finalist, Cod Hill Press Poetry Award, 2014; Finalist, 2012 Richard Snyder Publication Prize, Ashland Poetry Press, CRACKED PIANO, Semi-Finalist, 2012, 2011, 2010; Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, University of Wisconsin Press Poetry Series, CRACKED PIANO, Semi-Finalist, 2014, 2012, 2011; “Woman of Impact” Award in 2013, Presented by Westchester County Business Journal; Spire Press Chapbook Contest, Finalist, 2011; Spire Press Chapbook Contest, Finalist, 2011; Sow’s Ear Poetry Review Chapbook Contest, Finalist, 2010; Five times nominated for Pushcart Prize, most recently in 2009; Richard Snyder Publication Prize Book Contest Finalist, Magellan Prize, 2001; Buttonwood Press Book Contest, Semi-Finalist, 2001, 1999; Silverfish Review Chapbook Contest, Finalist, 1988, 1989, 2000, 2001; Brittingham and Pollak Prizes in Poetry, University Press of Wisconsin Press Poetry Series, Frozen Spring, Finalist or Semi-Finalist,1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001; American Literary Review Poetry Contest, Finalist, 1997; Second Prize, Cynthia Cahn Memorial Poetry Prize, 1986, Anhinga Press, Tallahassee, Florida; Finalist, The Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y– “D҄iscovery” / The Nation Contest, 1983 and 1985; Semi-Finalist, Flume Press’s Second Annual Poetry Chapbook Contest, 1985; First Finalist, Water Mark Press award Contest, chapbook competition, 1985-1984; Finalist, Wilory Farm Poetry Contest, 1980; Jenny McKean Moore Poetry Fellowship, George Washington University, Nominated by Peter Klappert, 1980.