We are excited to announce two new individuals joining our Black Ocean crew! Lillian-Yvonne Bertram joins us as an Editor-at-Large, working to scout new potential manuscripts and sitting in on editorial decisions for new acquisitions. Cherish Collins joins us as on internship funded by the UMASS Boston MFA program (making her the highest-paid member of our volunteer staff!). Cherish will work closely with our Poetry Editor, Carrie, reading and commenting on submissions, copyediting manuscripts in progress, writing marketing copy, and conducting market and influencer research.
Please join us in welcoming both Lillian-Yvonne and Cherish to the crew!
photo by Adrianne Mathiowetz
Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Editor-at-Large
Lillian-Yvonne Bertram is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Massachusetts-Boston, where they teach in and direct the UMass Boston MFA in Creative Writing Program. They have previously taught at St. Lawrence University, Ithaca College, and Williams College. They also direct the Chautauqua Institution Writers’ Festival.
They are the author of the poetry collections Travesty Generator (Noemi Press, 2019), winner of the 2018 Noemi Press Poetry Prize and finalist for the National Poetry Series. Travesty Generator received the 2020 Poetry Society of America Anna Rabinowitz Prize for interdisciplinary and venturesome work. They are also the author of Personal Science (Tupelo Press, 2017); a slice from the cake made of air (Red Hen Press 2016); and But a Storm is Blowing From Paradise (Red Hen Press, 2012), chosen by Claudia Rankine as the winner of the 2010 Benjamin Saltman Award. Bertram’s other publications include the chapbook cutthroat glamours (Phantom Books, 2012), winner of the Phantom Books chapbook award; the artist book Grand Dessein (commissioned by Container Press), a mixed media artifact that meditates on the work and writing of the artist Paul Klee and was recently acquired by the Special Collections library at St. Lawrence University; and Tierra Fisurada, a Spanish poetry chapbook published in Argentina (Editoriales del Duende, 2002). They collaborated with the artist Laylah Ali for the exhibition booklet of her 2017 art show The Acephalous Series.
Bertram has published poetry, prose, and essays in numerous journals, their honors include a 2017 Harvard University Woodberry Poetry Room Creative Grant, a 2014 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship, finalist nomination for the 2013 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, and fellowships to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Cave Canem, and others.
Bertram holds a PhD in Literature & Creative Writing from the creative writing program at the University of Utah, among degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Cherish Collins, Intern
Cherish Collins is a first-year prose writer at UMass-Boston. She spends most of her free time dancing, listening to music, reading, or writing.
Black Ocean’s Diversity in Publishing Internship program seeks to increase diversity in publishing by providing the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with the innerworkings of a independent literary publisher. As folx who have often been hiring managers at publishing houses, we know that the first barrier to entry into publishing is direct experience in publishing. Managers are looking for resumes that evidence internships and engagement with the book world at any level. Through our internship we seek to provide exactly the kind of experience that makes an application stand out. We're grateful to the UMASS Boston MFA program for being able to fund this opportunity this year to an incoming BIPOC MFA student.