ARTIST STATEMENT
“My current poetry focuses on issues that impact not only my life,
as an African American woman but also on issues that impact people
living in small towns and large cities alike:
socio-political-racial-gender fragmentation and its influence on
one’s sense of ‘connectedness’ to self, to community, and to the
planet.”
BIOGRAPHY
Demetrice Anntía Worley was born and raised in Chicago—westside—and
came of age in Central Illinois. She received a Doctorate
of Arts in English, Composition Theory and Pedagogy with a
concentration in creative writing, from Illinois State University, a
MA in English, African American Literature from University of
Illinois, Urbana, and a BA, cum laude, in English with a
concentration in creative writing, from Bradley University.
Her poetry has earned honors
from Allied Arts Center Midwestern Voices Artist
Residency/Fellowship, finalist (2007); Crab Orchard Press
First Book Contest, semi-finalist (2006); and The Spoon River
Poetry Review, 2002 Editor’s Prize Finalist. In addition, she
is a Cave Canem Fellow. While she primarily writes poetry, she also
writes short fiction, for which she has won local and national
prizes. Furthermore, her photography has been highlighted in TORCH,
and has won local awards.
Currently, she is an associate professor at Bradley University where
she teaches creative writing, African American literature, and
technical/business writing at the undergraduate and graduate
levels.
