Sean Preston Duncan Email & Phone Number

The most significant moments of my life have all congregated around creativity, compassion, and communication. I write a fair volume of poetry, but shy away from the label of "poet." And while "word artist" feels a bit pretentious, it does at least nudge a corner of my perspective, and carry far fewer of the flowers implied by the more traditional designation. Were I to assert that I bring a poetic element to other forms of communication, you might imagine some lofty cosmology obscuring the point, when what I mean is that my focus is on concision and voice. I have a knack for vocal accommodation. Tonal mimicry. It is a subconscious (and occasionally embarrassing) affliction; just ask anyone who spoke with me after I returned from Ireland. But it comes in handy when writing from a perspective that is not mine. I have been writing for local arts and culture publication, RVA Magazine, for over twenty years. I served a decent stretch as senior editor there as well. I have also worked as a social media manager, a personal care attendant for a man with quadriplegic cerebral palsy, and volunteered my services as an end-of-life doula. I currently work in sales. These may seem like disparate occupations, but at their core they are all rooted in the capacity to deeply and actively listen, cultivate actionable empathy, and creatively adapt. My writing has been commissioned by The Peace Studio, shortlisted for the Art of Creative Unity Award, nominated for Best of the Net, translated into Chinese by Poetry Lab Shanghai, and appeared in dozens of journals in the US and abroad, including, [PANK], HAD, The Free State Review, Poetry Bus, and Image Journal (forthcoming). My debut full-length poetry collection, BLOOD ALLUVIUM, is due out this year from Parlyaree Press. I am the owner/creator of Dreamwell Studio, a small leathercraft business specializing in hand-carved journals and accessories. Mostly journals. I prefer my passion projects to be at least writing-adjacent. In 2020, I put out a short poetry collection/art object entitled The Sound in This Time of Being (BIGWRK). I sent a copy to novelist Tom Robbins. In response, he wrote, "Reading your poems today, I had the feeling of having asked (and received) an autograph from starlight." It still feels like one of my greatest accomplishments.

Listed skills include Wordpress, Social Networking, Copy Editing, Blogging, and 46 others.

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  Virginia Commonwealth University

  Creative Writing