Teresa Leo is the author of a book of poems, The Halo Rule (Elixir Press, 2008), winner of the Elixir Press Editor’s Prize. Her poetry and essays have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Women’s Review of Books, New Orleans Review, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Painted Bride Quarterly, Xconnect, Barrow Street, Italian Americana, Marginalia, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, La Petite Zine, The Portable Boog Reader Philadelphia, Mooring Against the Tide: Writing Fiction and Poetry (Prentice Hall, 2005), and the anthology Whatever It Takes: Women on Women’s Sport (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999). She has interviewed Rick Moody, Martín Espada, and Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. She also co-wrote and co-directed (with David Deifer) "Virtually, Paris," a short educational film on literary magazine publishing in the electronic age, which was presented at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs annual conference in 1999, 2001, and 2002. She works at the University of Pennsylvania.
She has a B.A. in English from Bucknell University, a certificate in Hebrew Studies from Haifa University, and an M.A. in Creative Writing from Temple University where she was also an instructor of Composition. She is a former columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Commentary Page, past Editor-in-Chief of Painted Bride Quarterly, and has served as Acting Director of the Kelly Writers House at the University of Pennsylvania. She also worked with the Philadelphia Writing Partnerships Program, where she edited and designed anthologies of poetry written by students participating in the program from nine Philadelphia public middle schools in North Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, and Kensington. Currently she serves as a contributing editor for The American Poetry Review as well as Xconnect Magazine, the literary journal at the University of Pennsylvania.
Awards include:
- Pushcart Prize nomination, 2007
- Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship (poetry), 2006
- Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Special Opportunity Stipend Award in Literature (poetry project), 2005
- Leeway Foundation Emerging Artist Award (creative nonfiction), 2003
- Pew Fellowship in the Arts (poetry), 2002
- Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship (creative nonfiction), 2001
Residencies:
- Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2008
- Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2007
- Blue Mountain Center, 2006
- Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2006
- Vermont Studio Center, 2005
- Visiting Writer, Franklin & Marshall College, 2003
Photo by Jason Eskenazi.