ABOUT

About C. R. Grimmer (she/they)

Ph.D., M.F.A., M.A.

​

C. R. Grimmer is a poet, scholar, and lecturer from Southeast Michigan's Metro-Detroit area. They received their Ph.D. in Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Washington (UW). Before that, they did their M.F.A. in Creative Writing and then an M.A. in English Literature at Portland State University (P.S.U.). C. R.  has taught on the Seattle and Bothell UW campuses, with academic and pedagogical service positions such as Assistant Director of Digital Pedagogy. Their courses focus on multimodal composition, creative writing, and cultural studies. Across different disciplines and campuses, C. R.'s courses and publications examine intersections of gender, race, sexuality, and (dis)ability in poetry, pop culture, essay composition, and multimodal arts and scholarship. 

​

At present, C. R. is the Communications Manager at The Simpson Center for the Humanities and Public Scholarship Project Director for the Department of English, both at The University of Washington, Seattle.

Their latest manuscript, The Lyme Letters, was published in 2021 by Texas Tech University Press as the Walt McDonald First Book Award recipient. Their chapbook, O–(ezekiel's wife) is available from GASHER in collaboration with artist, poet, and novelist Colleen Burner. The audiobook edition is also now available, featuring collaborations with Digital Sound Artist. Judy Twedt. For more info/to order a copy, see the publications page. They are currently completing their second full-length manuscript, O, which builds on the shorter O–(ezekiel's wife), and anticipate its completion through a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship in Dec 2020.


Recently, they received fellowships from The Simpson Center for the Humanities with support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, became a Jack Straw Artist Support Fellow, produced  The Lyme Letters with support from The Harlan Hahn Disability Studies Endowment, and presented research at conferences ranging from the Modern Language Association (MLA), to American Studies Association (ASA). They also created and direct both the Dialogue Series at the UW in the Department of English ("Language, Literature, Culture") and The Poetry Vlog (TPV) (YouTube and Podcast Teaching Series). 


Their poems have appeared or are forthcoming in POETRY Magazine, FENCE Magazine, Drunken Boat, [PANK] Magazine, and more. Scholarly publications can be found in, are under review with, or forthcoming in journals and edited collections, such as The Comparatist and Contemporary Literature. For more on publications, see the publications and C.V. pages.

Use the links above and below for The Poetry Vlog and C. R. Grimmer's publications, events, awards, fellowships, and professional C.V.

About The Poetry Vlog (TPV)

While teaching the University of Washington, C. R.'s students expressed a need open access education tools that make pop culture and poetry intersections fun, relevant, embodied, and historically critical. University classroom spaces oftentimes hinder these goals. While extensive podcasts dedicated to poetry and social conversations do exist, students expressed a desire for a YouTube channel and short-form poetry podcast made for a broad-based, but critically engaged audience. Thus, The Poetry Vlog is teaching project and resource. While built on critique, it functions as a method for building coalitional queer, feminist, decolonial, and antiracist worlds through poetry and pop culture discussion. At its core, it is an education project and platform that centers marginalized voices and makes higher education open access and accessible. Because of this, the project is guided by one simple belief:


 

Hope is not just a feeling, but a call to action. Poetry, as always, is already here to meet it.

​

Seasons 1 - 3

​

Seasons 1 and 2 include 56 videos with paired podcast episodes that aired August 2018 - June 2019. With support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Simpson Center for the Humanities, and The Jack Straw Cultural Center, 25 Season 3 episodes were recorded on upgraded equipment. 

 

Season 3 air October 2019 - June 2020, and it will be the first pilot season produced and managed by a team of collaborative Interns and Research Assistants. An about page is coming soon, but this is part of the project's goal to transition into a by and for student platform, ensuring that students not only learn and produce in these mediums as much as receive them, but also have a critical voice in content, guests, and directions of the project as they transition from background to foreground work. To stay up to date on the team producing Season 3, as well as future directions and ways to be involved, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on social.

Season 4 ​

​

Season 4 will include guests from AD Carson, to Stevi Costa, to Tommy Pico and more. The Season began January 2021 and will include 10 episodes. To receive notifications when new episodes go live, you can subscribe to the channel at youtube.com/c/thepoetryvlog. This season is the first to offer donation tiers for those who would like to support hiring students and freelancers to work on the video production, post-production, and distribution strategies. Learn more on this site, donate, subscribe, use the materials in your classroom, or just enjoy watching/listing through "The Poetry Vlog" in the menu above, or if you prefer, just type thepoetrylvog.com/thepoetryvlog into your web browser.