Department of English

Jill McDonough

Jill smiling in La Blythe TaplinLecturer in Poetry

Selected Academic Appointments

Director of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at UMass Boston

Selected Publications

Poetry

  • American Treasure. Alice James Books, 2022. Reviewed in the Boston Globe.
  • Here All Night. Alice James Books, 2019
  • Reaper. Alice James Books, 2017

Selected Awards, Honors, and Residences

  • Writer in Residence, Mariposa Secure Detention Facility for Girls, Boston, 2025-present
  • Finalist, Palette Poetry Sappho Prize for Women Poets, 2024
  • Housatonic Book Award Winner for American Treasure, 2023
  • Mass Book Award “Must Read” for American Treasure, 2023
  • Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture Opportunity Grant, City of Boston, 2023
  • Inaugural recipient of the Provost’s Award for Community Engaged Scholarship and Teaching, UMass Boston, 2022
  • Writer in Residence, Saint Francis House Shelter for Unhoused Women, Boston, 2021-2023

Selected Presentations

  • Emerson College Visiting Writer, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
  • Black Seed Writers’ Group for the Unhoused, St. Paul’s Church, Boston: visiting poetry teacher, 2012, 2013, 2021
  • Roxbury Poetry Festival, 2021