Program in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality StudiesLauren Westerfield

Lauren Westerfield

  1. Scholarly Associate Professor – Career
  2. Coordinator, Integrative English Major Option
Email Addresslauren.westerfield@wsu.edu
LocationAvery 479
Phone509-335-2502

Biography

Visit my personal website. (*See disclaimer)

Lauren W. Westerfield is the author of Depth Control, a collection of genre-bending essays (Unsolicited Press, 2025). Her second book, Woman House: Essays and Assemblages, was awarded the 2025 Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction (*See disclaimer) and will be published in 2026 by the University of Massachusetts Press. Westerfield’s essays and poetry have most recently appeared in FENCE, Seneca Review, Willow Springs, Denver Quarterly, Indiana Review, and Ninth Letter. She teaches in the English department at Washington State University, where she serves as the editor-in-chief of Blood Orange Review (*See disclaimer). She also held the position of nonfiction/hybrid editor at Split/Lip Press (*See disclaimer) from 2020-2024. She is currently at work on a third book—part memoir, part autoethnography, part millennial reckoning—about the history and culture of her Northern California hometown.

Books

  • Woman House: Essays & Assemblages. University of Massachusetts Press, 2026.
  • Depth Control: Essays & Autofictions. Unsolicited Press, 2025.

Education

  • MFA Creative Writing, Nonfiction, University of Idaho, 2018.
    BA English & American Literatures, Middlebury College, 2007

Research Interests

Creative Writing (Nonfiction, Poetry, Hybrid/Cross-Genre, Autofiction, Experimental Memoir), Contemporary Editing and Publishing, Autotheory, Cultural Criticism, Feminist Criticism & Theory.

Teaching Interests

Contemporary issues and behind-the-scenes exploration of literary editing and publishing, developmental literary editing, creative nonfiction/personal essay writing, autotheory and creative/critical analysis, experimental prose writing, arts & culture writing, and research-based writing.

Honors and Awards

  • University of Massachusetts Press Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction, 2025
  • Honors College Outstanding Faculty Award, Washington State University, 2024
  • Honors College Thesis Advising Award, Washington State University, 2024
  • Provost’s Leadership Academy Appointee, Washington State University, 2023
  • CAS Early Career Achievement Award, Washington State University, 2023
  • Iowa Review Creative Nonfiction Contest – Finalist, 2022
  • Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts – Writer-In-Residence Award, 2022
  • Idaho Commission on the Arts, Fellowship in Literature, 2022
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee, 2021
  • Stillhouse Press Experimental Prose Prize – Winner, 2021
  • Service Excellent Award, Washington State University, 2021
  • Access Center Faculty of the Year Award – Nominee, Washington State University, 2021
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee, 2020
  • Instructor Distinguished Service Award, Washington State University, 2020
  • Idaho Commission on the Arts, Individual Grant, 2020
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee, 2019
  • Summer Research/Creative Activity Fellowship, Washington State University, 2019
  • Graduate Fellow, Center for Digital Inquiry & Learning, University of Idaho, 2018
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee, 2018
  • Phoebe Nonfiction Contest – Finalist, 2018
  • Best New Poets Nominee, 201
  • Alumni Award for Excellent, University of Idaho, 2018
  • Montana Book Festival Emerging Writers Contest – Finalist, 2018
  • Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts – Writer-In-Residence Award, 2017
  • Academy of American Poets Prize – Honorable Mention, 2017
  • AWP Intro Journals Award Nominee, 2016
  • Centrum Fellowship, University of Idaho, 2016

Selected Publications

Essays

  • FENCE – Madonna of the Master Bath, 2021
  • Seneca Review – A Broom to Remove the Dust, 2021
  • Denver Quarterly – Cramping at The Bone, 2020
  • Third Coast – [This Body] Fictions, 2020
  • Indiana Review – Dark Storage, 2019
  • Ninth Letter – That Same Summer, 201
  • The Pinch – On Shame, 2019
  • DIAGRAM – Bruxisms, 2018
  • New Delta Review – Milk Clock, 2018
  • Sonora Review – Indentations, 2018
  • The Baltimore Review – The Need to Use Your Teeth, 2018
  • Phoebe – Depth Control, 2018

Poetry

  • Opt West – “Tampa Elegy,” 202
  • Willow Springs – “Snow,” 2020
  • Hobart – “As Killjoy,” “As Block Paragraph,” 2018
  • Permafrost – “The Color Field,” 2018
  • Phoebe – “Tumbleweed,” 2017
  • Noble/Gas Quarterly – “As Saturnine in Spring,” “As Flash Rain in Summer,” 2017

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