Cecily Parks

Dr.
Cecily Parks
OccupationsPoet and professor
Awards2016 Pushcart Prize winner
Academic background
EducationRice University (BA)
Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars (MA)
Columbia University (MFA)
CUNY Graduate Center (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineEnglish
InstitutionsTexas State University
Websitehttps://faculty.txst.edu/profile/1922061

Cecily Parks is an American poet and professor. She is author of three poetry collections: The Seeds (Alice James Books, 2025); O’Nights (Alice James Books, 2015); and Field Folly Snow (University of Georgia Press, 2008).[1]

Biography

Parks was born in 1976.[2] She attended Rice University and graduated in 1999.[3] As an undergraduate, Parks contributed reporting to The Rice Thresher and developed an interest in poetry during her senior year after taking a workshop.[4][5] Following her graduation, she received her MA in poetry from the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars in 2000.[6]

Parks later earned her Master of Fine Arts in poetry at Columbia University and received her PhD at Graduate Center of the City University of New York, where she wrote a dissertation on American women writers and swamps.[7]

In 2020, Parks contributed spoken-word poetry to Stuart Hyatt's album Ultrasonic on the closing track, “Between the Hawthorn and Extinction.”[8] The song was described by Tony Rehagen of Indianapolis Monthly as a "spoken-word ode to the endangered [Indiana] bat that leans toward lament."[9] The poem was previously published in Orion under the title "The Indiana Bats."[10]

She currently lives in Austin, Texas, where she is an associate professor at the Texas State University MFA program for creative writing.[11]

Honors and awards

Published works

Poetry collections

  • Parks, C. G. (2025). The Seeds. New Gloucester, Maine: Alice James Books.[18]
  • Parks, C. (2015). O’Nights. Farmington, Maine: Alice James Books.[19]
  • Parks, C. (2008). Field Folly Snow. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press.[20]

Chapbooks

  • Parks, C. (2005). Cold Work. New York, New York: Poetry Society of America.[21]

Anthologies edited

  • Parks, C. (2025). Best New Poets 2025. Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press.[22]
  • Parks, C. (2016). The Echoing Green: Poems of Fields, Meadows, and Grasses. New York, New York, United States: Everyman's Library Pocket Poets.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Faculty Profiles". faculty.txst.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  2. ↑ Treacy, Natalie (2024-12-03). ""December": Five Questions for Cecily Parks". ashberyland. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  3. ↑ "Poetry workshop shaped life and career of poet". news2.rice.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  4. ↑ "The Rice Thresher (Houston, Texas), Volume 83, Number 24, Edition 1 Friday, March 29, 1996 - Rice University Digital Collections". digitalcollections.rice.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  5. ↑ "Featured Faculty: Dr. Cecily Parks (2014) – #TXSTEnglish @TXST". txstenglish.wp.txstate.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  6. ↑ Parks, Cecily (2021-06-29). "Cecily Parks | Narrative Magazine". www.narrativemagazine.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  7. ↑ "Cecily Parks | Kenyon Review Author". The Kenyon Review. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  8. ↑ "Stuart Hyatt on Turning Bat Sounds into Stunning Ambient Music". Vol. 1 Brooklyn. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  9. ↑ Rehagen, Tony (2020-08-30). "Stuart Hyatt Is On A Different Wavelength". Indianapolis Monthly. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  10. ↑ Parks, Cecily (December 9, 2019). ""The Indiana Bats"". Orion Magazine. Retrieved October 30, 2025.
  11. ↑ Treacy, Natalie (2024-12-03). ""December": Five Questions for Cecily Parks". ashberyland. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  12. ↑ "Blackbird Feature, Chapbook Author Interview Bios". blackbird-archive.vcu.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  13. ↑ "Permanent Faculty". www.english.txst.edu. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  14. ↑ "Faculty Profiles". faculty.txst.edu. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  15. ↑ "Cecily Parks". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  16. ↑ "The Best American Poetry Series | Series Archive". www.bestamericanpoetry.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  17. ↑ egalluscio (2026-01-29). "Announcing the 2026 PEN America Literary Awards Finalists". PEN America. Retrieved 2026-05-26.
  18. ↑ "The Seeds by Cecily Parks". Alice James Books. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  19. ↑ "Winter Poetry Reads". Boston Review. 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  20. ↑ "Field Folly Snow". Georgia Press. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  21. ↑ "Cecily Parks". Georgia Press. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
  22. ↑ Parks, Cecily; Livingood, Jeb. Best New Poets 2025. Samovar Press. ISBN 979-8-9917112-1-0.
  23. ↑ "The Echoing Green: 9781101907733 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2025-10-30.
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