Irena Praitis, Ph.D.
Professor / Department Chair
Biography
Irena Praitis earned her Ph.D. and M.F.A. degrees from Arizona State University. In the spring of 2005, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Vilnius, Lithuania. Her poems, essays, translations, and reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in journals such as Rattle, Mochila Review, Mid-America Poetry Review, International Poetry Review, Cold Mountain Review, Denver Quarterly, and Cultura, Lenguaje, y Representación. Her work was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her collection of poems, Touch, was published by Finishing Line Press in 2004, a collection of poems, Branches, was published by D-N Publishing in 2007, and a collection of prose vignettes, One Woman's Life, was published by Diversion Press in 2010. In 2011, with Kerry Shawn Keys, she co-translated a volume of poetry by the Lithuanian poet Sonata Paliulyte titled Still Life and published by Calder Wood Press.
Degrees
2001, M.F.A., Arizona State University
1999, Ph.D., Arizona State University
1992, M.A., Washington State University
1989, B.A., Carleton College
Research Areas
Poetry (Writing and Pedagogy), Poetry Translation (Lithuanian), Poetry of Alberto Ríos, Modern and Contemporary Poetry
Courses Regularly Taught
Poetry, Contemporary Poetry, Modern Poetry, Creative Writing, Contemporary Novel, Modern Novel, US Literature
Publications
Praitis, Irena. One Woman’s Life. Diversion Press, Inc., 2010.
Praitis, Irena. The Last Stone in the Circle. Red Mountain Press, 2016.
Praitis, Irena. Rods and Koans : Poems. Red Mountain Press, 2018.
Praitis, Irena, et al., editors. Open Doors : An Invitation to Poetry. Chaparral Canyon Press, 2016.
Praitis, Irena. “Lyrics.” Southwest Review, vol. 99, no. 4, 2014, pp. 537–537.
Praitis, Irena. “The Eye of the Beholder: Voyeurism and Surveillance in Williams’s Speaker/Reader Matrix.” William Carlos Williams Review, vol. 34, no. 1, 2017, pp. 49–63, https://doi.org/10.5325/willcarlwillrevi.34.1.0049.
Praitis, Irena. “He gathered to himself through the years / Something of everything he knew»: Metaphor, Composites, and Multiplicity in the Poetry of Alberto Rios.” Cultura, lenguaje y representación, vol. 1, 2008, pp. 81–88.
Praitis, Irena Aldona. Shaping Forms: Poetic Revisions of the Body in Dickinson, Bishop, and Plath. 1999. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.
Praitis, Irena. “School,” “Strawberries on a String,” “My Trickery,” “The Walk,” “Darkness,” Denver Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 1, 2009, pp. 68-72.
Praitis, Irena. “Apie Laika/About Time,” “Vėjo virpesy esi /The Winds’ Shudders,” “Atsisveikinimas /Parting.” Illuminations: An International Magazine of Contemporary Writing, no. 27, 2001, pp. 27-28.
Office Hours
By Appointment Only
