Kelly Cass Falzone

          Poet, artist, counselor, and educator Kelly Cass Falzone, MFA, MSEd, has been awarded prizes and recognition from the Tennessee Writers Alliance, the Knoxville and Chattanooga Writers' Guilds, the Berry College Emerging Southern Women Writers Competition, and The Porch Prize in Poetry, as well as earned two Pushcart Prize nominations, and First Prize in both The Bea Gonzales Prize for Poetry and The Davis Kidd Award in Poetry. Her poems have been anthologized in Low Explosions: Writings on the Body and Essential Love, and appear in journals including Stone Canoe; Good River Review Blog, Clackamas Literary Review; Cumberland Poetry Review; Literary Accents; Nashville Arts Magazine; First Class; and Poets On; among others.

          A paper and book artist, Kelly has additionally exhibited work in juried and group shows at the Marnie Sheridan Gallery; the Nashville Downtown Public Library Gallery; Watkins School of Film, Art, & Design; the Global Education Center; Art & Soul Nashville; and Huff Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky. The Nashville Scene named “Paper Thread and Trash: 13 Book Artists Working with Reuse Materials” (of which her work was a part) the “Best Art Exhibition Award” of 2015. Kelly's also collaborated with Nashville theatre organizations such as Southern Word, Green Room Projects, and Actor’s Bridge Ensemble, to produce works for the stage. A series she worked on for Southern Word entitled “Nashville Now: Literary Census” was recognized with the “Spoken Word Trailblazer Award” from Soul Food Poetry Café in 2010.

          Born in the Bronx and raised in Rochester, NY, Kelly earned her BA in English and her MSEd in Counselor Education at the SUNY Colleges at Fredonia and Brockport, respectively, and her MFA in Poetry from the Naslund-Mann School of Creative & Professional Writing at Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky. She teaches creative writing and experiential art practices at Art & Soul Expressive Arts Studio, where she also hosts a bi-monthly Open Mic Poetry Night, in Nashville, TN.