James Allen Hall
- 410-778-7845
- jhall5FREEwashcoll
- Rose O'Neill Literary House
James Allen Hall (he/they) is a well-published and nationally-recognized writer and literary editor of poetry and creative nonfiction. In addition to leading inspiring writing workshops, Dr. Hall also teaches special topics courses such as "Queer Literature" and "Comic Women: From Lysistrata to Lena Dunham." Dr. Hall believes in the principles of diversity and belonging, including ALL students in the classroom, and in productive but civil disagreement as a learning tool.
Recent areas of writing interest include artists like Mark Rothko and Robert Mapplethorpe.
Education
- Ph.D., Creative Writing and Literature, University of Houston, 2006.
- M.F.A., Poetry, Bennington College, 2000.
- B.A., English Literature, Stetson University, 1997.
Academic Expertise
- LGBTQIA+ Issues
- Literature / Writing
- Mark Rothko
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- Free Expression
I mostly advise SCE topics in queer literature and in contemporary poetry. My SCE advisees have broken new ground in analyzing polyamory and science fiction, transgender as transgenre, and what we mean by the post-human (particularly at the intersections of literature, environmental studies, and artificial intelligences).
Additional Information
Literary Editing
- Cherry Tree: A National Literary Magazine of Washington College. Editor in Chief, Summer 2016-present. Creative Nonfiction Editor, Spring 2014-2017. Poetry Editor, Spring 2016-2019.
- Blue Line: A Journal Devoted to the Spirit of the Adirondacks. Fiction Editor (2009-2013) and Contributing Poetry Editor (2008-09).
- Gulf Coast A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. Associate Managing Editor (2006) and Creative Nonfiction Editor (2003-2005).
Previous Tenured and Tenure-Track Positions
- State University of New York—College at Potsdam (Potsdam, NY): Associate Professor, Fall 2012-Spring 2013 (tenure granted 2013); Assistant Professor, Fall 2008-Spring 2012
- Bethany College (Bethany, WV): Assistant Professor of English, Fall 2006—Spring 2008
- University of Houston (Houston, TX): Teaching Fellow, 2001-2006
Books
- Romantic Comedy: Poems. Selected by Diane Seuss for the Levis Poetry Prize and published by Four Way Books in March 2023.
- I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well: Essays. Selected by Chris Krauss for the Essay Collection Award and published by Cleveland State University Poetry Center Press in 2017.
- Now You're the Enemy: Poems. University of Arkansas Poetry Series, 2008.
Recent Important Publications
- My poem "Inheritance at Corresponding Periods of Life, at Corresponding
Seasons of the Year, as Limited by Sex," first published by The Adroit Journal in their Fall 2023 issue, was selected for inclusion in Best American Poetry 2025, an anthology that gathers 75 of the best poems of the thousands published in the United States. Series editor is David Lehman; volume editor is Terence Winch. Publication details: Scribner in cloth and paperback, 2025. - My poems "Romantic Comedy" and "Early English History" appeared in the anthology Essential Queer Voices of U.S. Poetry. Christopher Nelson, ed (with an introduction by Jack Halberstam). Green Linden Books, Fall 2023.
Writing & Teaching
- Lambda Literary Award for Gay Male Poetry, 2009.
- Washington College Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching, May 2017.
- George Garrett Award for New Writing from the Fellowship of Southern Writers
- Helen C. Smith Award from the Texas Institute of Letters
Fellowships
- Civitella Ranieri Foundation (Civitella.org):
- Writing Fellowship 2025
- National Endowment for the Arts (nea.gov):
- Literature Fellowship in Poetry, 2011;
- Literature Fellowship in Poetry, 2025
- Bread Loaf Writers' Conference Fellowships:
2024: Paul Otremba Returning Fellowship.
2009: John Ciardi Fellow in Poetry
- Poetry Workshop
- Literary Editing and Publishing
- Creative Nonfiction Workshop
- Strategies for Editing and Publishing
- Forms of Poetry
- Global Research and Writing: Comic Women
- Graduate Poetry Workshop
- Queer Literature
- Introduction to Poetry
- Living Writers: Lyric Nonfiction
- Living Writers: Poetic Apertures
After my mother won independence in 1836,
she dysfunctioned as her own nation, passed laws,
erected monuments to men who would never again
be slaves to order and pain.
Remember the Alamo? That was my mother.
Then in 1845 that always-pleasing church-mouse voted
for annexation. My mother had too many selves and the desire
to enslave them all. Pregnant, she was forced
to become the twenty-eighth child of the American family.
Lone star no longer.
She joined a lineage of jacked-to-jesus hair, developed insatiable
cravings for honey barbecue. Her uncles sauntered up, stroked
the thin lace of her, declared she looked mighty good.
She let them say mighty good while grinning at one another.
Nothing grew then on the prairies of my mother.
Then she learned dissent, demanded men recognize her
sovereignty. She organized an embassy in a silver trailer
shaped like a virgin bullet. My mother renamed herself
The Republic of Texas, unfurled her flag all the way
into the 1980's, when the Republic kidnapped her neighbors,
Joe and Margaret Rowe, to highlight abuses she'd suffered.
My mother was an American terrorist.
Don't mess with Texas.
She died in the standoff. My new mother was elected
by a landslide and moved to Cuero, a city whose largesse
depends on retirement pensions. My peaceful mother
holds weekly rallies: “What do we want? When do we want it?”
Her lipstick stains the bullhorn mauve.
In her spare time, my mother receives foreign dignitaries
and does dry-wall. The Global Conglomerate of my Mother
opened her first staffed consulate in Barcelona.
She insists visitors speak American.
Currently, the Republic is facing lean times.
The former treasurer neglected May's utilities,
refuses to return the funds. Pledge your support today.
My motherland is standing by
the rotary phone, waiting for your call.
Love her or leave her.