Grace Marie Grafton
bio
Grace Marie Grafton’s poetry received first prize in the Bellingham Review contest and Nob Hill PEN Chapter, San Francisco. Her poems were a finalist for NIMROD’s Pablo Neruda Prize, and have twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her collection, ZERO, won the Poetic Matrix Press chapbook contest. Her book, VISITING SISTERS, published by Coracle Books, consists of poems inspired by the artwork of contemporary women.
She has taught for many years in the California Poets In The Schools program. For her teaching work, she has received numerous California Arts Council Artist In Residence grants. In 1998, she was named Teacher of the Year by the annual River Of Words youth poetry and art contest, co-sponsored by Robert Hass, former US Poet Laureate.
She was born and raised on a grape farm near Reedley, in California’s central valley. She earned a BA from UC Berkeley and an MA from New York University, Manhattan. She lives in Oakland, California.