Judith Skillman

Judith Skillman was born in Syracuse, New York, of Canadian parents, and holds dual citizenship. She has held positions as a faculty member teaching in the field of Humanities at City University, University of Phoenix, and Yellow Wood Academy. Currently, she is a faculty member at the Richard Hugo House in Seattle, Washington. In addition to her Masters in English literature from the University of Maryland, Skillman did graduate work in comparative literature and translation at the University of Washington. Her poems have appeared widely in contemporary journals such as Prairie Schooner, FIELD, The Southern Review, Shenandoah, and Cimarron Review. She has been a writer in residence at the Centrum Foundation and The Hedgebrook Foundation. At the Center for French Translation in Seneffe, Belgium, Skillman translated Belgian-French poet Anne-Marie Derèse. Her collaborative translations have appeared in Ezra and are forthcoming in Hawai’i Review.

Judith received a 2017 GAP Award to support the publication of a collection of poems called Came Home to Winter. The poems are about living with auto-immune disorder and venture into difficult realities that surround this disease process. There’s a tendency to isolate oneself when dealing with health issues that are less well understood. It’s well documented that auto-immune illness breeds anxiety and depression; further eroding a woman’s ability to function effectively in her family and at work. Allocation of the funds would be used to contribute to publicity and media outreach for the project. Ideally, a combination of social media and traditional methods—personal readings, panels, interviews—will be used to both to promote both subject matter and draw in those women who are experiencing these challenges.

Artist Trust thanks the Amazon Literary Partnership for underwriting this award through Artist Trust’s Corporate Partnership program. For information about supporting Washington State artists, visit here.