Lucille Lang Day

Poet, Fiction Writer, Creative Nonfiction Writer

Oakland, CA
California US
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Author's Bio

Lucille Lang Day was born December 5, 1947, in Oakland, California, and grew up in Oakland and nearby Piedmont. She is the author of a memoir, eleven poetry collections and chapbooks, two children’s books, and dozens of short stories, creative nonfiction pieces, and reviews. In addition, she has coedited two poetry anthologies and published hundreds of poems in magazines and anthologies. She received her M.A. in English and M.F.A. in creative writing at San Francisco State University, and her M.A. in zoology and Ph.D. in science/mathematics education at the University of California at Berkeley. The founder and publisher of a small press, Scarlet Tanager Books, she also served for seventeen years as the director of the Hall of Health, an interactive children's museum in Berkeley.

Publications & Prizes

Creative Nonfiction

Anthology:
I'm On My Way Running: Women Speak on Coming of Age (Avon Books, 1983)
Books:
Poetry and Science: Writing Our Way to Discovery (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2021)
,
Married at Fourteen: A True Story (Heyday Books, 2012)
Journals:
Cadillac Cicatrix
,
Ghost Town
,
Istanbul Literary Review
, ,
River Oak Review
, ,
The Hudson Review
, ,
Willow Review

Fiction

Journals:
Amarillo Bay
,
California Quarterly
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Ducts Magazine
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Eclipse
,
Eureka Literary Magazine
,
Green Hills Literary Lantern
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Pennsylvania English
, , , ,
The Pubscriber
,
Westview

Poetry

Anthologies:
America, We Call Your Name (Sixteen Rivers Press, 2018)
,
Marin Poetry Center Anthology (Marin Poetry Center Press, 2018)
,
Know Me Here: An Anthology of Poetry by Women (WordTemple Press, 2017)
,
Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands (Shabda Press, 2017)
,
Far Out: Poems of the '60s (Wings Press, 2016)
,
Circe's Lament: Anthology of Wild Women Poetry (Accents Publishing, 2015)
,
Turning a Train of Thought Upside Down: An Anthology of Women's Poetry (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2012)
,
New California Writing (Heyday Books, 2012)
,
poem, home, An Anthology of Ars Poetica (Paper Kite Press, 2009)
,
Appleseeds (Sacred Fools Press, 2008)
,
Illness & Grace, Terror & Transformation (Wising Up Press, 2007)
,
The Cloud View Poets (Arctos Press, 2005)
,
California Poetry: From the Gold Rush to the Present (Heyday Books, 2004)
,
The Addison Street Anthology (Heyday Books, 2004)
,
Against Certainty (Chapiteau, 2003)
,
Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge (Poetworks/Grayson Books, 2003)
,
An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind (Regent Press, 2002)
,
September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond (Etruscan Press, 2002)
,
Intimate Kisses (New World Library, 2001)
,
A More Perfect Union (St. Martin's Press, 1998)
,
Mother Songs (W. W. Norton & Company, 1995)
,
Voices Within the Ark: The Modern Jewish Poets (Avon Books, 1980)
Books:
Birds of San Pancho and Other Poems of Place (Blue Light Press, 2020)
,
Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2018)
,
Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2016)
,
Becoming an Ancestor: Poems (Cervena Barva Press, 2015)
,
The Curvature of Blue (Cervena Barva Press, 2009)
,
Infinities (Cedar Hill Publishing, 2002)
,
Wild One (Scarlet Tanager Books, 2000)
,
Fire in the Garden (Mother's Hen, 1997)
,
Self-Portrait with Hand Microscope (Berkeley Poets Workshop and Press, 1982)
Chapbooks:
Dreaming of Sunflowers: Museum Poems (Blue Light Press, 2015)
,
God of the Jellyfish (Cervena Barva Press, 2007)
,
The Book of Answers (Finishing Line Press, 2006)
,
Lucille Lang Day: Greatest Hits, 1975-2000 (Pudding House Publications, 2001)
Journals:
Anthropology and Humanism
, , ,
Berkeley Poets Co-op
,
Blue Lyra Review
,
Blue Unicorn
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Blue Violin
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Brevities: A Mini-Mag of Minimalist Poems
,
California Quarterly
,
Carquinez Poetry Review
, ,
Chattahoochee Review
, , , ,
Eleventh Muse
,
ForPoetry.com
, ,
Frigg Magazine
, ,
Heavy Bear
,
Hudson Review
,
Iodine Poetry Journal
,
ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment
,
Juice Online
,
kaleidowhirl
,
Levure Litteraire
,
Lips
, ,
Measure
,
Miramar Poetry Journal
, ,
New Zoo Review
, ,
Parthenon West Review
, , ,
Pif Magazine
, , ,
Poetry Midwest
,
Poetry Now
,
PoetryMagazine.com
,
Psychological Perspectives
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Quercus Review
, , , ,
Runes: A Review of Poetry
, , ,
Spillway
, , ,
The Tower Journal
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The Walrus
, ,
Tule Review
, , ,
Wild Goose Poetry Review
,
Prizes won: 

Joseph Henry Jackson in Award in Literature, 1982; Appalachia Poetry Prize, 1996; First Place, Poetry, Gulf Coast Ethnic and Heritage Jazz Festival, 2007; First Prize, Janice Ferrell Poetry Prize, 2007; Grand Prize, Artists Embassy International's Dancing Poetry Contest, 2008; Willow Review Award in Creative Nonfiction, 2009; Finalist, Northern California Book Award in Creative Nonfiction, 2013; PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award, 2013; Blue Light Poetry Award and Chapbook Contest, 2014; PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Literary Award, 2017; Finalist, Eric Hoffer Book Award in Poetry, 2019.

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
European American, Native American
Prefers to work with: 
Any
Fluent in: 
English
Born in: 
Oakland, CA
California
Raised in: 
Piedmont, CA
California
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Feb 10, 2022