Staff
Summer Writing Program
Core Administrative Staff

Anne Waldman
Co-founder, Distinguished Professor of Poetics
SWP Chair and Artistic Director

Anne Waldman, poet, professor, performer, and cultural activist is the author of over 40 books and small press editions of poetry and poetics, including most recently Manatee/Humanity and the anthology Beats at Naropa, co-edited with Laura Wright. Other titles include Fast Speaking Woman, IOVIS (I&II), Vow to Poetry: Essays, Interviews and Manifestos, Marriage: A Sentence, In the Room of Never Grieve, Structure of the World Compared to a Bubble, Outrider, Red Noir and Martyrdom. She also edited The Beat Book, and is co-editor of Disembodied Poetics: Annals of the Jack Kerouac School, The Angel Hair Anthology, and Civil Disobediences: Poetics and Politics in Action. Her numerous CDs include The Eye of the Falcon and Matching Half (with Akilah Oliver), with music and production by Ambrose Bye. She has performed her work on stages across the American continent and abroad, collaborating with Douglas Dunn and dancers and musicians on the performance “Tanks Under Trees” in Houston and Manhattan, and with artists Donna Dennis and Pat Steir on recent book projects. She has participated in conferences and festivals in Beijing, Berlin, Vienna, Nicaragua and Prague and has taught recent practicums at the Zen Mountain Monastery and Naropa University. She works with writer/director Ed Bowes on a number of video/movie projects.

Lisa Birman
SWP Director

Lisa Birman, MFA Naropa University, is a poet and writer from Melbourne, Australia. She is Director and BA Coordinator of The Kerouac School’s Summer Writing Program, and adjunct faculty for Naropa’s MFA in Creative Writing. She is the author of for that return passage – A Valentine for the United States of America (Hollowdeck Press), and co-editor of Civil Disobediences: Poetics and Politics in Action (Coffee House Press). Recent work has appeared in Trickhouse, Tarpaulin Sky, Bombay Gin, not enough night, Square One and thuggery & grace. Lisa is a freelance proofreader and copyeditor, and co-founder of Movie Star Press

Daniel Staniforth
SWP Event Manager

Originally from England, Daniel Staniforth is a writer and composer now residing in Lafayette, CO. In addition to his position at Naropa, he serves on the part-time English faculty at Denver Metro State University. Daniel earned a Master’s degree in Literature from Miami University (of Ohio) and writes poetry, fiction and theoretical work. Some recent publications include Rogue Poetry Review and The Houston Literary Review. As a multi-instrumentalist and composer, he writes and records alternative, classical, and experimental music (including “sonic poet-scapes”). For more information, visit Flowforth Productions

Julie Kazimer
SWP Finance & Registration manager

Julie Kazimer is a prose writer from Denver, Colorado. After graduating with a Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology, she decided to change career paths and focus on writing. Her works have appeared in various literary magazines. Most recently, Julie’s manuscript, The Body Dwellers, won the 2008 RMFW Colorado Gold Contest for speculative fiction. You can view a list of Julie’s current works at: www.juliekazimer.com