Wendy Willis

Wendy Willis is a member of the Attic Atheneum faculty. Her first book of poems, Blood Sisters of the Republic, appeared from Press 53 in 2012. She has published her work in the internationally-acclaimed Alhambra Poetry Calendar, as well as in Poetry Northwest, Clackamas Literary Review, Bellingham Review, Zyzzyva, and elsewhere, and received a residency at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). Her major essay on place – "Where Are You From?" – originally appeared in Oregon Humanities and was reprinted in Utne.

In addition to her poetry career, Wendy is the deputy director for national programs at the Policy Consensus Initiative and the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State University. Prior to joining PCI/NPCC, Wendy was the executive director for City Club of Portland. She has also served as an assistant public defender for the District of Oregon and a law clerk to Chief Justice Wallace P. Carson, Jr. of the Oregon Supreme Court. Wendy is also a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum Oregon, and an active volunteer in the local food-to-school movement. She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law Center and holds a BA from Willamette University.

Prize anthology mentions

Best American Essays 2015*

* indicates notable/special mention

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