Kimberly Gray

Kimberly Grey M.F.A. '09
A Passionate (and Published) Poet

Adelphi’s new M.F.A. in creative writing program graduated its second class this spring and among its aspiring fiction writers, dramatic writers, and poets, Kimberly Grey has earned a special place.

The recipient of both the 2008 and the 2009 Donald Everett Axinn Awards in Poetry, Ms. Grey graduated with works appearing or forthcoming in Boxcar Poetry Review (May 2009 Issue 20, “The Difference between O and Oh” and July 2009 Issue 21 “Revision”) and Dear Sir, (Summer 2009 “Husbands and Wives”). Ms. Grey’s first manuscript, The Opposite of Robot is Light, is near completion.

Judith Baumel, director of Adelphi’s creative writing program, described Ms. Grey as “an enormously talented young poet, already making her mark in the world of contemporary poetry. Her poetry combines attentiveness to sensual detail with a rigorous intellect. We are gratified that the judges of two consecutive years of the poetry contests, the poets Amy Gerstler and Julie Agoos, have recognized Ms. Grey's impressive writing.  It has been a pleasure to watch Ms. Grey dedicate herself to her art, as she developed an increasingly mature and complex lyrical voice.”

As a freshman at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Ms. Grey planned to become a nurse, specifically a neonatal nurse. Bored with science, however, and enamored with words and their meanings, she applied and was accepted to an advanced poetry workshop with poet Stephen Dunn, winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Ms. Grey never looked back— graduating from Stockton with a B.A. in literature.

Ms. Grey longed to continue writing and be part of an intimate writing community.

“Adelphi was the only program I applied to,” she said. “I wanted to be on Long Island. I wanted a school that was affordable. Adelphi seemed a great fit...Completing this M.F.A. program has taught me how to be a working writer. I have developed a writing process for myself. I submit regularly to magazines. I read every day. And the recognition is nice. But that is certainly not why I write. To quote the poet Robert Creeley, ‘Poets write, I do believe, because they have to—it’s something nothing else quite satisfies. One has to do it—compulsively.’”

Lungs By Kimberly Grey Small animals purring beneath my breasts          what are you reasons for being one times two of yourselves?          Why is two always the equation, the opposite of lonely – my beautiful          chandelier with bronchiole bulbs. Tell me what light you give          back and forth, what work you do beyond the rising of my chest.          What are you, twinfish, to the other?