Founder, Poetry in Communities Project, 2013 - 2020
After the shooting at Sandy Hook School, Carol Ann worked with her son Willem’s fourth grade teacher (at a near Newtown elementary school) to found the Newtown Poetry Project, which offers 2nd - 6th graders in Newtown a six-week poetry workshop in order write together in community; after the workshops conclude, Carol Ann publishes a collection of poetry and hosts a reading and launch party for participants. To date, 75 Newtown families have participated in this program.
From this work, Carol Ann developed a curriculum (available upon request) to any educator who would like to address issues of trauma with students. She has founded the Poetry in Communities program to support communities hit by sudden and systemic violence. To date, parts of the poetry curriculum have been implemented in Normandy, MI (at Michael Brown’s middle school), in Charleston, SC, and in New Orleans, LA. Prior to moving to Newtown, Carol Ann founded the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA) in Charleston, SC, with South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth. Through LILA, she administered the Burke High School Poets in the Schools Program, which offered poetry instruction in Charleston’s only non-magnet, non-charter public high school.
Professor of English and Director, Low-Residency Masters of fine arts (MFA) Program, Fairfield University
Since 2012, Carol Ann Davis has served on the faculty of the English Department of Fairfield University, where she is now Professor of English and Director of the Low-Residency MFA Program. The MFA program, which convenes twice a year for two 9-day residencies, offers concentrations in poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and screenwriting. Find out more about the program by visiting the website here. Since 2016, she has served as editor of Fairfield’s national literary magazine, Dogwood.
View a reading Carol Ann gave at the MFA residency here.
Editor, Crazyhorse, The College of Charleston, 2001 - 2012
Prior to her accepting a position at Fairfield University, Carol Ann Davis served as Editor of the literary journal Crazyhorse while serving on the faculty at The College of Charleston, where Crazyhorse is housed. While there, she compiled a special 50th anniversary edition of the magazine, worked with co-editors to improve the layout and design of the magazine, and sought out impactful and original artwork for the cover.
Crazyhorse routinely appears on lists of top literary magazines in the nation. She is proud to be part of an editorial legacy that includes past editors Larry Levis, Lynda Hull, David Wojahn, and Jorie Graham.