Artist Bio

JoAnn Balingit, Poet Laureate of Delaware, is a writer and educator who grew up in Florida and has lived in California, Kentucky, Morocco and Portugal. She has taught literature and composition for the University of Kentucky and the University of Delaware, and worked for 10 years as a library-media specialist at the elementary and high school levels. She has taught poetry workshops for many local organizaions, such as The Wellness Community of Delaware. She holds masters degrees in literature from the University of California, Irvine and in library and information science from Indiana University. She earned a doctorate in education from the University of Delaware in 2008. She studied how high school students are taught to write academic prose.

Balingit's poems have recently appeared in Smartish Pace, Salt Hill, Pearl, and in the anthologies DIAGRAM.2 (Del Sol Press, 2006) and Best New Poets 2007 (Meridian). She is a recipient of a Delaware Division of the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature and was nominated for a 2004 Pushcart Prize for her poem "Your Heart and How it Works." She is the recipient of the Dr. Norman H. Runge Award (2008) for her essay "Some Boy Somewhere."

As Poet Laureate, Dr. Balingit seeks to promote the art of poetry throughout Delaware. She supports opportunities for Delaware poets to pursue their art, and opportunities for the public to attend readings by outstanding poets. She believes it is especially important for Delaware students to have opportunities to read great poetry and to write poetry. She urges schools, teachers and poets to collaborate in pursuit of Poetry in the Schools projects.

Description of Residency Activities

Writing poetry gives children, teenagers and adults a chance to slow down and reflect on their experiences. Our daily lives are inundated with fast-paced TV and movie images, and with routine demands. Often we need encouragement — and permission and training — to stop and notice the world. When children, especially, look deeper at themselves and others, they learn valuable lessons about what they see, remember, feel, and know. Poetry teaches us to share our stories and thus offers to us the world we live in.

Typically for adult and student workshops I encourage a lot of writing in class, on the spot. Students may model poetic forms appropriate to their age or ability, do "free-writes" to share in class, play games as warm-ups, and read great poems, both contemporary and classic. I teach students to revise their poems to make the voice strong and the experience clear to a reader.

On Day 5 of week-long school residencies, students type up their final drafts for inclusion in an anthology of class poems.

Portfolio

"Your Heart and How It Works" >> View Writing

Arts Services:
Commissioned Work, Readings, Workshops, Residencies, Lectures/Public Speaking, Social Functions

Audience Served:
Elementary, Middle School, High School, Adult

Availability:
Delaware (all 3 counties), Regional (throughout Mid-Atlantic region), Seasonal only

Fees:
$200-$300 for readings and workshops; $1,500 for 5-day residency; fees negotiable. Assistance with fee may be available for nonprofit organizations.

Performance/Exhibit Venues:
Community sites (e.g., libraries, senior centers, religious facilities), Festivals, Schools, Theater/auditorium

Performance/Exhibit Requirements:
For readings, a well-lit podium or reading area, with seating; a sound system with mic for large spaces. For residencies, a classroom space with overhead projector or digital projector. Access to a copy machine. Access to a computer lab with printer, for student groups to edit and publish a collection of their poems.

Arts Education Experience
Grade Level: K-4, 5-8, 9-12, Adult Education

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