Readings and Classroom Visits

I believe that writing is a collaboration between readers and writers; as such, readings, where the two meet, are essential for my own practice. Drawing on my formal training as a poet and essayist, I’ve read and performed at venues including the Whitney (for their programming for both the 2022 Biennial and their Pride celebration that same year), the Brooklyn Public Library, the University of Buffalo, and bookstores, bars, and literary event spaces across the country. 

I’ve also been a panelist and lecturer at spaces including McGill University, California College of the Arts, the University of Pennsylvania, The Center, Anthology Film Archives, New York University, the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and more. At these spaces, I’ve delivered a wide range of talks on queerness, transness, horror, endemic violence, and poetic and prosaic craft. More specifically, I’ve talked about:

• The 2002 movie The Ring and queer survival
• Horror as a mode of resistance 
• Writing persona poems as a way to deal with violences otherwise unsayable
• Art about beauty, art about dead women, and the intersection between the two
• Contemporary trans and queer literature
• The trans visual artist Greer Lankton, and archival work as a form of love

I’d be happy to talk about these or any other topics to interested classrooms and event spaces.

Teaching

In addition to my classroom visits, I have a robust teaching practice of my own—having taught classes for Catapult, Bard College, the City University of New York, Montclair State University, Sundress Academy on the Arts, and more. These classes include:

• A full-semester class on trans and queer arts and cultures
• A seminar on sci-fi writing as a means of exploring of gender expansiveness
• A five-week intensive on writing effective horror poetry
• A day-long course on writing persona poems 
• A generalist creative writing course, semester-long

Student reviews and testimonials available upon request.

Freelance Editing

Finally, I have over a decade of experience working as a professional editor, whether as the poetry co-editor for the Whiting Award winning Apogee Journal (serving from 2016-2024) or working as a freelance editor. With my help, writers have been accepted to prestigious PhD programs, gotten into competitive residencies, won book prizes and gotten manuscripts accepted for publication, and more. 

Trained in both nondirective and more traditionally editorial methodologies, I’m happy to help with creative and professional projects alike, and prioritize a sliding scale to ensure more equitable access to my services. Contact me at zef.lisowski [at] gmail.com or at the link below for more information and a rate quote.