About CJ Farnsworth

I am a poet. Words are my medium—letters, sounds, and sense. I am fascinated by language as a tool to construct knowledge, reality, and identity. I am interested in the ways language divides and connects. I am interested in the inevitable gaps between language, the tool we use to translate human experience, and the experiences themselves. People and everyday life factor prominently in my poetry. I seek to be an observer, a witness, and a narrator of human experience. In addition, I have a special affinity for the unresolved and ambivalent aspects of human nature, the individual in conflict with herself. And I am a woman, so my writing is particularly expressive of the female experience and joins a rich conversation of women’s voices throughout history fighting for space to value authentic perspectives from women regarding their bodies, sexuality, maternity, relationships, and even domesticity. I am interested in the ways female identity is shaped and the ways women process and respond to social and cultural messages and expectations about female”ness.”

Biography

I am a poet living in Wheeling, WV, where I was also born, and a graduate of the Vermont College of Fine Arts. My first full-length collection of poetry, “If You Keep Making That Shameface…,” is available from Sheila-Na-Gig Editions. My poems have appeared or are forthcoming in I-70 Review, Backbone Mountain Review, Appalachian Review, Kenning, Kestrel, Rattle, Women Speak, and others. I am also a Pushcart Prize nominee.

[email protected]

Other Creative Skills

Theater
Acting