Biography


Dawn Potter directs poetry and teaching programs at Monson Arts and is the creative director of The Poetry Kitchen. When not teaching, she works as a manuscript consultant and as a freelance editor for literary and academic presses.

Dawn was a finalist for the 2020 National Poetry Series. She is the author or editor of nine books of prose and poetry--most recently, the poetry collection Accidental Hymn. Her memoir, Tracing Paradise: Two Years in Harmony with John Milton, won the 2010 Maine Literary Award in Nonfiction, and she has received grants and fellowships from the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Writer's Center, and the Maine Arts Commission. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Beloit Poetry Journal, the Sewanee Review, the Threepenny Review, the Times Literary Supplement, and many other journals in the United States and abroad.

Dawn lives in Portland, Maine, with her husband, the photographer Thomas Birtwistle.

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A note for visitors interested in editing services or manuscript consultation: I specialize in poetry, literary fiction and nonfiction, and academic manuscripts. I don't take on children's books or most genre fiction. I offer different levels of editing, at costs ranging from $50 to $100 an hour, depending on whether you want a simple line edit (fix typos, spelling, punctuation, grammar); help with extensive rewriting and reorganization; or guidance with poetic craft. I do not provide publication services or any guarantee of publication, nor can I act as an agent or liaison to presses.

Contact me via the sidebar form--