Elizabeth Willis

Elizabeth Willis

Born	April 28, 1961 Bahrain
Occupation	Poet, Professor, Literary Critic
Nationality	United States
Education	University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire University at Buffalo
Notable works	Meteoric Flowers; Turneresque; The Human Abstract

Elizabeth Willis (born April 28, 1961, Bahrain) is an American poet and literary critic. She currently serves as Professor of Poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Willis has won several awards for her poetry including the National Poetry Series and the Guggenheim Fellowship. Susan Howe has called Elizabeth Willis "an exceptional poet, one of the most outstanding of her generation."

Willis grew up in the Midwestern United States and received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. She then earned a Ph.D. from the Poetics Program at University at Buffalo.

Willis has taught at several institutions including Brown University, Mills College, the University of Denver and Wesleyan University and has held residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Centre International de Poésie, Marseille. Formerly the Shapiro-Silverberg professor of literature and creative writing at Wesleyan University, she currently serves as Professor of Poetry at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

Willis has been awarded fellowships from the California Arts Council and the Howard Foundation and has won the National Poetry Series, the PEN New England Award and the Boston Review Prize for Poetry. In 2012, she was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship. Willis lives in Iowa City.