Biographical

Jayson Iwen’s book Roze & Blud recently won the 2020 Jayson IwenMiller Williams Poetry Prize. He’s also won the Emergency Press International Book Contest and the Cleveland State University Ruthanne Wiley Memorial Novella Contest. He’s been a finalist for the National Poetry Series, the New Issues Press Green Rose Award, the Trio House Press Louise Bogan Award, the Periplum Open Book Competition, the 42 Mile Press Poetry Award, and a semi-finalist for the Word Works Washington Prize, Wheeler Prize, and the Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes. His published books are Six Trips in Two Directions (2006), A Momentary Jokebook (2008), and Gnarly Wounds (2013). His collaborative translation of Jawdat Fakhreddine’s Lighthouse for the Drowning was published in BOA Editions’ Lannan Translation Series, and his edited collection of poems by Jawdat Haydar, 101 Selected Poems, has been translated into French and republished by Editions Dar An-Nahar. His poetry, prose, and translations have appeared in dozens of journals, including Cream City Review, New American Writing, Nimrod, Painted Bride Quarterly, Pleiades, Tikkun, Water~Stone Review, and World Literature Today. Iwen also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the online journal New Theory. He lives and works in the Twin Ports region of Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.