Neil Aitken

EDUCATION

PhD in Literature & Creative Writing, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA.
MLIS in Library & Information Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC
MFA in Creative Writing, University of California, Riverside, CA
BS in Computer Science, Mathematics minor, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT.

PUBLICATIONS

POETRY / Books
Babbage's Dream. Sundress Publications, 2017.
The Lost Country of Sight. Anhinga Press, 2008. POETRY / Chapbook Leviathan. Hyacinth Girl Press, 2016. 2017 Elgin Prize for Science Fiction Poetry Chapbook POETRY / Journals & Magazines “Letter XXIII”, “Letter XXV.” $ (Poetry is Currency). Forthcoming. “Ritual,” “Crossing Over,” “Farewell,” Tupelo Quarterly. Issue 28 (Dec 2022). “After,” “44,” Hyphen Magazine. (April 2022). “Searching My Father's Books,” Valparaiso Poetry Review. 22.2 (Spring/Summer 2021). “Approaching Infinity.” American Poetry Journal. Issue 17 (2 Dec 2018). “Letter XXI,” “Letter XXXV.” Moria. Issue 1 (27 Nov 2017). “Babbage and Carroll in the Silent Workshop, 1867.” The Adroit Journal. Issue 18 (25 Oct 2016). “Compile,” “Object.” The Cossack Review. (6 May 2016). “Deep Blue Confesses,” “HAL 9000, A Few Moments Before Singing.” Tayo Literary Journal. (20 May 2015). “The Mechanical Turk, Encircled by Flames, Bids Farewell.” Stirring. Issue 17.3 (1 Mar 2015). “Binary.” Thrush Poetry Journal. Issue 18 (1 Sep 2014). “Assembly,” “Float.” Radar Poetry. Issue 3 (14 Jul 2014). “Double,” “Operator.” diode. Issue 7.2 (21 Jun 2014). “Letter Seventeen.” I.T Post Magazine. Issue 15 (2014). “Babbage, Waking Beside Georgiana, Considers the Moon, 1815.” Stirring. Issue 16.4 (2 Apr 2014). “Break,” “Short.” Eleven Eleven. Issue 16 (12 Mar 2014). “Encapsulation,” “Long.” Ostrich Review. Issue 5 (26 Feb 2014). “Loop,” “Leviathan Speaks to Babbage at the End.” Anti-, Issue 13 (1 Dec 2013). “Babbage Reflecting on the Cruelty of Man, 1835,” “Babbage Sending Messages to Ada, Now Gone, 1852,” “Return,” “Void.” The Dialogist, Issue 1.3 (4 Sep. 2013). “Babbage in Love, 1811,” “Babbage Descending into Mt. Vesuvius, 1828.” Exit 7, Issue 2 (2013). “List.” American Literary Review, Issue 23.2/24.1 (2012). “Refusing the Dark.” Likewise Folio, Issue 1 (3 Nov. 2012). “Babbage Explaining God and the Machine,” “Variable.” The Normal School, Issue 5.2 (2012). “Cast.” Kartika Review, Issue 13 (12 Aug. 2012). “Babbage Leaving Turin by Coach, 1840.” RHINO (2012). “Memory,” “Recursion.” Lantern Review, Issue 4 (25 Feb. 2012). “Extern.” Iron Horse Literary Review, Issue 13.2 (2011). “Alpha60 Speaks of Fear,” “Babbage, Troubled by Vision at His Wife's Grave, 1827.” The Collagist, Issue 26 (15 Sep. 2011). “Programmer F, Descending.” Weave Magazine, Issue 3 (2009). “Array,” “Pointer.” diode, Issue 2.3 (11 May 2009). “In Hsin Chu.” (reprint), Sunstone (2009). “Enumeration.” Ninth Letter, Issue 5.2 (2009). “An Hour Before Arriving, I See Home.” Pebble Lake Review (2008). “Traveling Through the Prairies, I Think of My Father's Voice.” Barn Owl Review, Issue 1 (2008). “My Father as Landscape,” “Halfway,” “How We Are Saved.” Rock & Sling, Issue 4.2 (2007). “I Dream My Father on the Shore.” Sou'Wester, Issue 36.1 (2007). “Comment,” “Conditional.” Redactions, Issue 8/9 (2007). “Elegy for Grey.” Stirring. Issue 9.6 (14 Jun. 2007). “Letter Ten,” “Letter Fifty.” DMQ Review. Spring/Summer 2007 Issue (9 Jun. 2007). “How the World Fits Together,” “In the Long Dream of Exile,” “The Memory Theatre.” The Drunken Boat. (20 Jun. 2007). “All the Names of Children and Homes We May Never Know,” “The Art of Forgetting,” “At the End of Poetry,” “Ghost Passport,” “In Hsin Chu.” MiPOesias. (11 Jan. 2007). “Letter from Home,” “Fridge.” Spillway, Issue 13 (2006). “Prodigal.” Crab Orchard Review, Issue 11.2 (2006). “In the Country I Call Home,” “What I Know About Abstraction.” Portland Review, Issue 53.2 (2006). “For the Drowned.” Silk Road, Issue 1.1 (2006). “Considering Photography,” “Seeking Shelter at -50,” “To the Street Musician.” Avatar Review, Issue 8 (8 May 2006). “Letter to the Unknown Wife.” Washington Square, Issue 17 (2006). “Outside Plato's Republic the Last Poets Wait for Departure.” RHINO (2006). “For Sal Paradise, Lost in America,” “After Neruda,” “Bad Sestina.” Beyond the Valley of Contemporary Poets (2004). “Counting Winters in Los Angeles,” “Jericho,” Poetic Diversity, Issue 2.4 (1 Nov. 2004). “Love Song,” Southern Poetry Review Issue 39.2 (1999). POETRY / Anthologies Borderlines: Poems About Migration (Pocket Poets/Everyman's Library, 2020). The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirituality, eds. Leah Silvieus & Lee Herrick. Orison Books, 2019. Moth & Rust: Mormon Encounters with Death, ed. Stephen Carter. Signature Books, 2017. The Poet's Quest for God: 21st Century Poems of Faith, Doubt, and Wonder, eds. Todd Swift. Fr. Oliver Brennan. Eyewear Press, 2016. Completely Mixed Up: Mixed Heritage Asian North American Writing & Art, ed. Brandy Lien-Worrall. Rabbit Fool Press, 2015. Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-first Century Mormon Poets, ed. Tyler Chadwick. Peculiar Pages, 2011. Don't Blame the Ugly Mug: Ten Years of Two Idiots Peddling Poetry, eds. Steve Ramirez, Ben Trigg. Tebot Bach Press, 2011. Aspects of Robinson: Homage to Weldon Kees, eds Christopher Buckley, Christopher Howell. The Backwaters Press, 2011. The Loudest Voice, Volume 1, eds. Amaranth Borsuk, Bryan Hurt, Genevieve Kaplan. Figueroa Press, 2010. The Best of Mormonism 2009, ed. Stephen Carter. Curelom Books, 2009. Blue Arc West: An Anthology of California Poets, eds. Paul Suntup, Dima Hilal, Mindy Nettifee. Tebot Bach Press, 2006. Homage to Vallejo, ed. Christopher Buckley. Greenhouse Review Press, 2006. CREATIVE NONFICTION / Anthologies “Imagining Home: Creating Literary Spaces of Change and Possibility” in How Dare We Write: A Multicultural Creative Writing Discourse, 2nd Edition. ed. Sherry Quan Lee. Modern History Press. 2022. LIBRETTI Star Singer. Opera (90 minutes). Music by Juhi Bansal. Commissioned by Opera America & Beth Morrison Projects. Nov 2026 (Los Angeles), Jan 2027 (Prototype Festival, NYC). The Edge of a Dream. Community opera (20 minutes). Music by Juhi Bansal. Commissioned by Los Angeles Opera. Sep 2020. High school girl Maria finds the courage to pursue her own dreams when her father tells her about Ada Lovelace, a young girl in Victorian England, and how her vision for the future shaped mathematician Charles Babbage's quest to build the first computer. The Enchantress of Numbers. Opera. Music by Juhi Bansal. Work in progress. “Ada's Aria” “The Edge of a Dream” TRANSLATION / Books The Book of Cranes: Selected Poems (1984-2015) by Zang Di. Translated from Chinese with Ming Di. (Vagabond Press Australia, 2015). River Merchant's Wife: Poems by Ming Di. Various translators. (Marick Press. 2012). TRANSLATION / Anthologies Republic of Apples, Democracy of Oranges: New Eco-Poetry from China and the United States. (Manoa, 2019). New Cathay: Contemporary Chinese Poetry, 1990-2012. (Tupelo Press. 2013). Translations of 32 poems. TRANSLATION / Journals & Magazines “What I Fear Most is You Growing Up” by Pan Xichen. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry International Blog. 2020. “People Die Every Day” by Guan Jingjing. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry International Blog. 2020. “Rouge-ism” by Li Cheng'en. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry International Blog. 2020. “Condolence” by Huang Shazi. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry International Blog. 2020. “Sad” by Jian Nan. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry International Blog. 2020. “Graveyard Bird” by Huang Bin. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry International Blog. 2020. “Nothing to Do With Crows,” “Books of the Original Role” by Zang Di. Co-translated with Ming Di. Manoa: A Pacific Journal of International Writing, 2019. “Flower-Loving Butterflies” by Zang Di. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry East West, 2 (2011) Beijing. “Peach-blossom Town” by Liu Jiemin. Co-translated with Ming Di and Sheng Yan. Poetry East West, 2 (2011) Beijing. “Candy Wrapper,” “Why We Grind” by Zhang Zhihao. Co-translated with Li Yiliang. Poetry East West, 2 (2011) Beijing. “The Clay Pot in Tennessee,” “Post-Poison-ism,” “To the Sea Nest” by Yang Xiaobin. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry East West, 1 (2010) Beijing. “Watching Clouds,” “The Rock Artist” by Qin Xiaoyu. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry East West, 1 (2010) Beijing. “'Freedom' is a Lonely Word,” “Bland Life, Blunt Poetry” by Sun Wenbo. Co-translated with Ming Di. Poetry East West, 1 (2010) Beijing. “On the Street,” “Half-Poems” by Yu Xiang. Co-translated with Fan Jinghua. Poetry East West, 1(2010) Beijing. AWARDS & HONORS International & National Elgin Award for Poetry Chapbook, Science Fiction Poetry Association, for Leviathan (2017) Finalist, Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellowship, University of Wisconsin (2015) Semi-finalist, Anthony Hecht Prize, Waywiser Press, Babbage's Dream (2015) Winner, Beyond Baroque Poetry Contest, for “Vigil” (2014) DJS Translation Prize, for co-translations of Lü De'an, Sun Wenbo, Jiang Tao, Qin Xiaoyu,Yang, Xiaobin, Zhang Zhihao, Liu Jiemin, Yu Xiang, Lü Yue, and Jiang Li (2011) Association of Mormon Letters Poetry Prize, The Lost Country of Sight (2009) Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, CSU Fresno/Anhinga Press, The Lost Country of Sight (2008) Finalist, May Swenson Prize, Utah State University Press, The Lost Country of Sight (2007) Semi-finalist, Elixir Press Prize, Elixir Press, The Lost Country of Sight (2007) Semi-finalist, Elixir Press Prize, Elixir Press, The Lost Country of Sight (2006) Semi-finalist, Brittingham-Pollak Prizes, University of Wisconsin, The Lost Country of Sight (2005) Prairie Poetry Friends' Prize, for “Adrift” (2004) Local & Regional Runner-Up, City of Regina Writing Award, Regina, SK (2021) Winner, Poetry Moves Contest, Clark County Transit (C-Tran), Clark County, WA for “Extern” (2015) Institutional Edythe Webster Scholarship for Library & Information Studies, University of British Columbia, 2024 Tuition Scholarship, Digital Humanities Summer Institute, University of Victoria, 2024 Faculty of Arts Graduate Award, University of British Columba, 2023 Honorable mention, Edward W. Moses Creative Writing Prize, University of Southern California (2014) Edward W. Moses Creative Writing Prize, University of Southern California (2012) Second place, Inscape Poetry Competition, Brigham Young University, for “Burials” (1999) Honorable mention, Brigham Young University Eisteddfod, for “Love Song” (1999) GRANTS & FELLOWSHIPS Independent Artist Grant, Saskatchewan Arts Board (2021) Summer Fellowship, English Department, University of Southern California (2014, 2012) Summer Research Fellowship, English Department, University of Southern California (2013) Giles-Siebert Summer Fellowship, English Department, University of Southern California (2010) Kundiman Poetry Fellow (2005, 2006, 2008) Merit Fellowship, English Department, University of Southern California (2007-2008) Dean's Fellowship & Stipend, Creative Writing Department, University of California, Riverside (2004-2006) WRITING RESIDENCIES Writer-in-Residence, Regina Public Library (Sep 2021-May 2022) Virtual Writer-in-Residence, Saskatchewan Writers' Guild (Fall 2020) WORKSHOPS, PRESENTATIONS, & READINGS Workshops (Dungeons & Dragons) Regina Public Library “How to Design a One-Shot Adventure for D&D,” Regina Public Library, George Bothwell Branch, Oct 8, 2022 “Creating a Character in Dungeons & Dragons,” Regina Public Library, Sunrise Branch, Sep 24, 2022 “Wild & Inspired:: DM & Player Tips for Improv,” Regina Public Library, Sunrise Branch, May 28, 2022 “Dangerous Folk: How to Design an Interesting Villain,” Regina Public Library, Sunrise Branch, May 21, 2022 “Running the Game: How to Become a Dungeon Master,” Regina Public Library, Sunrise Branch, May 14, 2022 “The Adventure Begins: An Introduction to Dungeons & Dragons,” Regina Public Library, Sunrise Branch, May 7, 2022 Workshops (Creative Writing) Beyond Baroque “Journey into the Interior,” online workshop, Nov 14, 2020 Whitenoise Project “On Becoming Earth: Mapping Loss, Desire, and Place,” online workshop, Oct 27, 2020 Saskatchewan Writers' Guild “Journey into the Interior,” online workshop, May 7, 2020 “Fire in the Mind: Writing Vivid Images,” Saskatchewan Writers' Guild, Regina, SK. Dec 4, 2019 De-Canon: A Visibility Project “Journey into the Interior: A Generative Writing Workshop,” Milepost 5, Portland, OR, Aug 18, 2018 “Healing the Fractures: Writing from Deep Experience,” in conjunction with APANO Mic Check Series, Milepost 5, Portland, OR, Jun 23, 2018 “Spatial Poetics: Place & Displacement,” Milepost 5, Portland, OR, May 26, 2018 “Beyond Language: Image, Memory, and Translation,” UNA Gallery, Portland, OR, Aug 12, 2017 Astoria Writers' Guild “Fire in the Mind: Writing Memorable Images,” Astoria, OR, Jul 23, 2018 Literary Arts “Journey into the Interior: A Generative Writing Workshop,” Literary Arts, Portland, OR, Apr 7, 2018 “Little Machines of Words: A Generative Writing Workshop,” Literary Arts, Portland, OR, Mar 3, 2018 “The Fire in the Mind: A Generative Writing Workshop,” Literary Arts, Portland, OR, Feb 3, 2018 “Out of Sorrow, Out of Joy: A Generative Writing Workshop,” Literary Arts, Portland, OR, Jan 6, 2018 “Beyond Language: Image, Memory, and Translation,” Literary Arts / Wordstock Festival, Portland, OR, Nov 11, 2017 Sue C. Boynton Workshop Series “Writing at the Threshold of Loss and Desire,” Chuckanut Center, Bellingham, WA, Oct 28, 2017 Western Washington University “Upheaval & Eruption: Writing at the Intersection of Fields,” Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA, Oct 27, 2018 Mixed Roots Film & Literary Festival “The Heart of the Poem: Writing from Deep Experience,” Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Jun 16, 2012 “The Heart of the Poem: Writing from Deep Experience,” Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Jun 11, 2011 “The Heart of the Poem: Writing from Deep Experience,” Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles, CA, Jun 13, 2010 Presentations & Panels “Race to Machine: Asian-Americans Write Tech, Colonialism, and Dystopia,” panel with Franny Choi, Margaret Rhee, Betsy Aoki, & Shankar Narayan, AWP Conference, Seattle, WA (Mar 2023). “BIPOC Writers on Publishing,” panel with Danny Ramadan, Peace Akintade, & Carol Rose Goldeneagle, Saskatchewan Writers' Guild, Regina, SK (Nov 2021). “Writing as Resistance,” panel with Brian & Josie Parker, Jake Vermaas, Michelle Ruiz Keil, Lilian Ongelungel, Joaquin Lopez, Aminata R. Sei., Catlin Gabel, The CENTER, Portland, OR (Oct 2018). “Heads in the Cloud: A Consideration of Poetics & Technology,” panel with Jessica Mehta, TJ Jarret, Rachel Mindell, Lynne DeSilva-Johnson, AWP 2018, Tampa, FL. (Mar 2018). “Beauty, Loss, and the Intangible: Babbage's Unfinished Machines,” featured speaker, Belmont Humanities Symposium, Belmont University, Nashville, TN (Sep 2016). “Philip Levine Prize Winners Remembering Philip Levine,” panel with Corrine Hales, Barbara B. Curiel, Steve Gehrke, and Sarah Wetzel. AWP 2016, Los Angeles, CA. (Mar 2016). “A Machine Made of Words: Babbage, Lovelace, and the Dream of the Mechanical Other,” invited lecture, Whittier College, Whittier, CA. (Mar 2015). “To E, or Not to E: Journals in the 21st Century,” panel with Eric Greenwell, Marianne Kunkel, Michael Meyerhofer, and Nate Liederbach. AWP 2014, Seattle, WA. (Feb 2014). “Ring of Fire, New Creations: Translation on the Pacific Rim,” Karen An-hwei Lee, Don Mee Choi, Sawako Nakayasu, and Srikanth Reddy. AWP 2014, Seattle, WA. (Feb 2014). “Kundiman from Community to Communities: Reaching out from the Writers' Retreat,” panel discussion with Sarah Gambito, Tamiko Beyer, Andre Yang, and Margaret Rhee. AWP 2011, Washington, DC. (Feb 2011). “Smashing the Box: Fresh Faces and First Books by Asian American Poets,” panel discussion with Esther Lee, Cynthia Arrieu-King, Gary Jackson, and Purvi Shah. AWP 2011, Washington, DC. (Feb 2011). “Kundiman Kindles the Flame: New Asian American Poetry,” panel discussion with Aimee Nezhukumatahil, Sarah Gambito, Oliver de la Paz, Ching-In Chen, and Timothy Yu. AWP 2009, Chicago, IL. (Feb 2009). Recent Readings (2016-) Featured Writer, Saskatoon Writers' Collective, Saskatoon Public Library, Saskatoon, SK, Oct 8, 2020 Words in the Park, Saskatchewan Writers' Guild, Victoria Park, Regina, SK, Jul 3, 2019 Anhinga Poets Reading (AWP), Passages Bookshop, Portland, OR, Mar 28, 2019 Triptych Tapestry, LitCrawl Portland, Ace Hotel, Portland, OR, Nov 9, 2018 All Kinds of Fur, Indivisible, Portland, OR, Sep 21, 2018 Why There Are Words PDX, Leach Botanical Gardens, Portland, OR, Aug 19, 2018 Where Poetry and History Meet, De-Canon, Milepost 5, Portland, OR, Aug 9, 2018 Whitenoise Project, IPRC, Portland, OR, Aug 6, 2018 IPRC 20th Anniversary, IPRC, Portland, OR, Jun 22, 2018 The Evershifting Diaspora: Kundiman Writers in the PNW, Literary Arts, Portland, OR, May 31, 2018 Displacement, Movement, & Loss, De-Canon, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR, May 18, 2018 EOC APIA Heritage Month, Multnomah County Board Room, Portland, OR, May 4, 2018 Sci Fi Poets Reading, Another Read Through, Portland, OR, Feb 22, 2018 Ghost Town Poetry, Angst Gallery, Vancouver, WA, Jan 11, 2018 Intersect Fest, Ford Food & Drink, Portland, OR, Dec 8, 2017 Whittier College, Whittier, CA, Nov 30, 2017 Two Idiots Peddling Poetry, Ugly Mug Cafe, Orange, CA, Nov 29, 2017 Spoken Word Club, Laguna Woods Village Community Center, Laguna Woods, CA, Nov 28, 2017 First Press Series, Woodbury University, Burbank, CA, Nov 27, 2017 Pop-Up Reading, Portland Wordstock Literary Festival, Portland, OR, Nov 11, 2017 Portland Community College, Sylvania, Portland, OR, Nov 7, 2017 Kundiman Reading, LitCrawl Seattle, Seattle, WA, Oct 19, 2017 De-Canon WORDS Reading, UNA Gallery, Portland, OR, Aug 5, 2017 Mother Foucault's Bookshop, Portland, OR, Jun 23, 2017 Whitenoise Project, High & Low Gallery, Portland, OR, May 31, 2017 Association of Asian American Studies, Kells Irish Restaurant and Bar, Portland, OR, Apr 14 , 2017 Living Canon: Panel & Reading, High & Low Gallery, Portland, OR, Mar 11, 2017 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, Mar 6, 2017 Barnlight Bar, Eugene, OR, Mar 5, 2017 In Bloom: Kundiman Reading (AWP), BloomBars, Washington, D.C., Feb 11, 2017 Sundress Reading (AWP), Madame's Organ, Washington, D.C., Feb 9, 2017 Another Read Through, Jan 26, 2017 Free Verse: Poetry & Improv, Brody Theater, Portland, OR, Dec 9, 2016 À Reading, Portland, OR, Oct 30, 2016 Mic Drop!, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, Portland, OR, 21 Sep 21, 2016 Another Read Through, Portland, OR, Jun 30, 2016 Verse of Ages Reading, Oregon Writers Colony, Portland, OR, Apr 13, 2016 The AWP After-Party “We Survived” Reading, Chevalier Books, Los Angeles, CA, Apr 3, 2016 Neuwerk Reading Series, The Waypost, Portland, OR, Jan 14, 2016 PROJECTS Boxcar Poetry Review (www.boxcarpoetry.com) [2006-2022] || Founding Editor Online literary journal with 40+ issues. Publishes poetry, art, interviews with first book poets & reviews of first books. Have Book Will Travel (www.havebookwilltravel.com) [2016-] || Founder An online database which helps authors and reading series find each other. Writing Coaches (www.writingcoaches.org) [2020-] || Founder An online directory of independent writing coaches, editors, manuscript consultants,and instructors. The Lit Fantastic (www.thelitfantastic.com) [2017-2019] || Podcast Host & Creator Podcast about authors and their obsessions. Currently recording Season 3. De-Canon: A Visibility Project (www.de-canon.com) [2017-] || Co-Director A pop-up modular library containing over 500 books by writers of color / an online resource / an event space Funded by grants from Precipice Fund, Andy Warhol Fund, and APANO Placemaking. PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS ALA (American Library Association) APALA (Asian Pacific American Librarian Association) ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Artists, and Publishers) AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) BCLA (British Columbia Library Association) LCP (League of Canadian Poets) SWG (Saskatchewan Writers' Guild) TWUC (The Writers' Union of Canada)