About

ASHLEY TAYLOR is an agender, queer, nuerodiverse/a-spectrum Kentucky poet who designs student-centered, collaborative writing spaces and performing arts events. Ashley is the author of Metamorphosis of Narcissus, part of a chaplet series by queer and trans poets from Damaged Goods Press, 2019. Their writing has been honored with a 2020 Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and a 2020 Lambda Literary Fellowship Award from Sundress Academy for the Arts. Ashley earned a BA and MA in English with a minor in Linguistics from the University of Louisville as well as an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. Currently, they work as a grant coordinator for the mutual outreach team Feed Louisville. You can find their poetry in Yes Poetry, Crab Fat Magazine, Vagabond City, Transom, Peculiar, and Out/Cast.

Education

MFA Spalding University ⋅ 2021

  • Creative Writing, Poetry

  • Pedagogical Graduate Lecture

  • Study abroad Santiago, Chile ⋅ 2019

  • Study abroad Kyoto, Japan ⋅ 2018

  • Emerging Writer Scholarship

  • Student Editor of Good River Review

MA  University of Louisville ⋅ 2018

  • English ⋅ Graduate Teaching Assistantship

  • Instructor of ENG 101, 102, 202

  • Graduate Dean’s Citation Award

  • Creative Writing Award for Poetry

  • Scholarship Award for Excellence in Creative Writing

  • Graduate Editor of Miracle Monocle

BA  University of Louisville ⋅ 2014

  • English ⋅ Linguistics Minor

  • Poetry Editor of The White Squirrel

  • Graduate of Metropolitan College UPS Program

Community Engagement & Teaching Experience 

“Embracing Multitudes”  LLA Webinar on Imagery in Poetry 2020

“In Other Words” LLA Workshop, Exhibit, and Reading 2019

Productions:reading series, stage performance events, and more.

ACADEMIC CURRICULUM DESIGN

In these syllabi and plans, writing students focus on scaffolded steps to explore how craft mechanics and rhetoric awareness function together in tandem as a foundation for their learning experience. Reading lists for these courses change frequently. 

 

PRESENTATIONS, Grants, & AWARDS

Grateful to recently receive a 2020 Artist Enrichment Grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and a Lambda Literary Fellowship (2020) with the Sundress Academy for the Arts.

 

journal Reinventions & other editorial experience 

Ashley likes to read for inclusive and diverse journals that advocate for the experimental. They excel with a team invested in discussions concerning the core of journal operations (design, communications, etc). 

 

WRITING CENTER & TUTORING EXPERIENCE 

Ashley encourages visibility, inclusivity, and empowerment for all writers at any stage of their writing experience. They invest in dialogue, and a work environment that encourages enthusiasm, collaboration, and service.

 

creative collaborations & projects

Banner Art Installation Project

#KnowMoore Cultural Dialoguers

MFA Reverse-Ekphrasis w/ Aaron Lubrik