Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D.

Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D.
Columbia, SC

Biography
Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D., has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry, is the author of eight books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, and is a creativity coach with two decades of experience teaching within community and university settings. Cassie Premo Steele's Co-Creating workshops & individual sessions offer a fun and nurturing alternative for those wanting to learn how to use writing and everyday creativity to help bring about greater balance and beauty in their lives.

After receiving her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and Women's Studies from Emory University in Atlanta in 1996, she has published hundreds of poems, short stories, and essays, as well as eight books: Moon Days, Ash Tree Publishing, 1999; We Heal From Memory, Palgrave, 2000; Ruin, Finishing Line Press, 2004; My Peace, WordClay, 2008; and Easyhard, 2009. In 2010, two new books were published: the novel, Shamrock & Lotus, from All Things That Matter Press; and a book of poetry based on her Co-Creating work, This is how honey runs, from Unbound Content. In 2011, This is how honey runs was released as an audio book with original music composed and performed by Russ Eidson. All of her writings focus on the themes of creativity, healing, mothering, and living in balance with the natural world.

In addition to her writing, she also teaches, gives individual lessons and leads group workshops through her Co-Creating practice. As Charles R. Goldman, MD, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of South Carolina's School of Medicine, attests, "Her teaching and group facilitation skills are outstanding. Her warm, supportive style encourages people to reach deep within themselves to express thoughts and feelings they were not even aware they had. Her knowledge of writing and of the psychology of creativity and healing is amazing."

To find out more about Co-Creating sessions with Cassie Premo Steele, call or text 803/ 420-1400 or click the secure Contact link on this website.

BOOK PUBLICATIONS

Click on the Books link above to read excerpts, reviews, and more about Cassie Premo Steele's eight books of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.

Awards
"This is my disease" won The 2011 Archibald Rutledge Prize, sponsored by the Poetry Society of South Carolina. This award, honoring the late Poet Laureate of South Carolina, is offered for a poem of any style or nature descriptive of the Palmetto State. Judged by Eric Nelson.

"Spirit Lesson" won The 2011 John Edward Johnson Prize sponsored by the Poetry Society of South Carolina. Offered for a poem of any style or nature on a religious theme or subject. Judged by Young Smith.

"Writing is like this," from Cassie Premo Steele's poetry book, This is how honey runs, was nominated for a 2010 Pushcart Prize.

Cassie Premo Steele's poem, "The Poemgranate," which was published in Vox Poetica, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2009.

Women’s Studies Program Excellence in Teaching Award University of South Carolina, 2007. "For her ability to mentor students and apply feminist theory and research methods to real-world experiences."

First Place Award for Best Essay in Cup of Comfort for Writers for “Hummingbird's Journey,” 2007. Sponsored by Adams Media Corporation.

First Place Award in the Recycled Words Nature Poetry Competition for “Walking with My Daughter,” Fall 2007. Sponsored by the Sumter County Cultural Commission.

Best of Literary Mama 2007 Creative Nonfiction Category for “My Wild Child.”

Honorable Mention in The State newspaper and USC Poetry Initiative’s annual poetry contest for “Her Colors.” April, 2006.

Top Ten Finalist in the The State newspaper and USC Poetry Initiative’s annual poetry contest for “This Bird.” April, 2006.

Finalist for the Rita Dove Poetry Award judged by Joy Harjo for “Findabair.” April, 2003.

Third Place Sumter County Cultural Commission Literary Award for “Three Years Down.” February 28, 2002.

Semi-finalist in the 1999 Finishing Line Press New Women's Voices Competition. Poetry chapbook, Caves of My Memory.

First Place for "The Reunion of Women" in the Carrie McCray Literary Award for Poetry sponsored by the South Carolina Writers Workshop. October 13, 1996.

Poetry Publications

“There is a worship” and “5 questions.” Pocket Thoughts, edited by June Cotner. Harper San Francisco. Forthcoming.

“What I want to tell you about the rain (for my niece)” in Earth Blessings, edited by June Cotner. Chronicle Books. Forthcoming.

"The Rock Speaks." EarthSpeak Magazine Issue 3, Spring 2010. www.earthspeakmagazine.com

"What Happens Outside When the Poets Read." EarthSpeak Magazine Issue 3, Spring 2010. www.earthspeakmagazine.com

"A Hungry Wife." Contibutor's Series 5: Dramatis Personae, May 30, 2010. www.Vox Poetica.com

"Calling It Down." Eclectic Flash, Volume 1. January 2010. www.eclecticflash.com Also featured as audio recording at http://www.eclecticflash.com/files/Calling_It_Down_by_Cassie_Premo_Steele.mp3

"Recipe for the Impossible." Contributors' Series 3: Resolution and Resolve. January 9. 2010. www.VoxPoetica.com Reprinted in From 9/11 to a New Year, edited by Annemarie Lockhart. (Unbound Content, 2010): 46.

"What the tree has seen." Contributors' Series 1: 9/11. November 23, 2009. www.VoxPoetica.com Reprinted in From 9/11 to a New Year, edited by Annemarie Lockhart. (Unbound Content, 2010): 22-23.

"Days of the Dead." Contributors' Series 2: Candy & Spirits. November 4, 2009. www.VoxPoetica.com Reprinted in From 9/11 to a New Year, edited by Annemarie Lockhart. (Unbound Content, 2010): 39.

"The Poemgranate." November 23, 2009. www.VoxPoetica.com

“How the Rose Works” in Serenity Prayers, edited by June Cotner. (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2009): 48-49.

“The Gardener” and “What I Want to Tell You about the Rain,” The Petigru Review (Fall 2008): 31; 58.

“Morning Glories in Alabama.” Southern Mist, edited by Tom Davis. (Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, 2008): 75. “10.” AveNews (April/May 2008): 16.

“Here Is the Mother Awakening.” Miracles of Motherhood: Poems and Prayers for a New Mother, edited by June Cotner (New York: Center Street, 2007): 133.

“The First Sea.” Sand, Sea and Sail: A Poetry and Prose Anthology, edited by Tom Davis. (Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, 2007): 36.

“The moment of labor” and “There is a room.” MotherVerse: A Magazine of Contemporary Motherhood 5 (January 2007): 41.

“How to return to your husband.” Forever in Love, edited by June Cotner. (Kansas City: Andrews McMeel, 2006): 87.

“A Mother Greets the Dawn.” In the Yard: A Poetry Anthology (Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, 2006): 77.

“There is a worship” and “Light my way,” Pocket Prayers, edited by June Cotner. Chronicle Books, 2006.

“Light my way” was featured in One Spirit Book Club’s mailing for May, 2006.

“The Prodigal Wife.” Literary Mama. March 2006. www.literarymama.com

“Unbound.” Blessed Bee 24 (Spring 2005): 13.

“Butterflies in your hair.” Blessed Bee 25 (Summer 2005): 23.

“Desire.” Apostrophe (2004): 15.

“Facing.” Apostrophe (2004): 16.

“My skin became a touchable thing.” Literary Mama. November 2004. www.literarymama.com

“Ruin.” AveNews (October-November 2004): 12.

“5 things the lightning told me.” AveNews (June-July 2004): 7.

“The Beginnings of Rain.” Literary Mama. (January 2004). www.literarymama.com

“Late January.” Blessed Bee 19 (Winter 2003-2004): 21.

“Lilith.” Fire in the Womb: Mothers and Creativity. Edited by Elizabeth Anderson and Kate Smith-Hanssen. (Xlibris, 2003): 45.

“The Beginnings of Rain.” Fire in the Womb: Mothers and Creativity. Edited by Elizabeth Anderson and Kate Smith-Hanssen. (Xlibris, 2003): 6.

“Birthday Poem.” Fire in the Womb: Mothers and Creativity. Edited by Elizabeth Anderson and Kate Smith-Hanssen. (Xlibris, 2003): 56.

“Memory.” Fire in the Womb: Mothers and Creativity. Edited by Elizabeth Anderson and Kate Smith-Hanssen. (Xlibris, 2003): 64.

“In the Image of Me.” Fire in the Womb: Mothers and Creativity. Edited by Elizabeth Anderson and Kate Smith-Hanssen. (Xlibris, 2003): 24.

“Forgiving Our Fathers.” AveNews (Dec 2003/Jan 2004): 12. “Freya.” Earth’s Daughters #64 (2003):26-27.

“Walking on the Backs of Whales.” CALYX, A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, Vol. 21, no. 2 (Summer 2003): 95.

“Lakshmi” and “Yemaya.” The Pagan’s Muse: Poems of Ritual and Inspiration. Edited by Jane Raeburn. (New York: Citadel Press, 2003): 12-13, 188.

“Days of the Dead.” Blessed Bee (Fall 2003): 5.

“Return.” Blessed Bee (Spring 2003): 25.

“Lakshmi.” Aquarian Times. (Spring 2003): 43.

“The First Moment.” Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge, Poems about Marriage. Edited by Ginny Lowe Connors. (West Hartford, CT: Poetworks, A Division of Grayson Books, 2003): 76.

“The First Moment.” To Love One Another: Poems Celebrating Marriage. Edited by Ginny Lowe Connors. (West Hartford, CT: Poetworks, A Division of Grayson Books, 2002): 50.

“Birthday Poem.” AveNews (February/March 2002): 13.

“The First Sea.” Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 3:2 (Autumn 2001): 88.

“Walking on the Backs of Whales.” Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 3:2 (Autumn 2001): 54.

“What I cannot tell you.” Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 3:1 (Spring 2001): 19.

“Spring, again.” Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 3:1 (Spring 2001): 215.

“Green is the color where winter dreams.” Savannah Literary Review (Spring 2001): 3.

“Walking the Boundary.” Savannah Literary Review (Spring 2001): 4.

“Gaia.” AveNews. (April/May 2001): 3.

“Memory.” AveNews (April/May 2001): 6.

"Dos Marias" . Knowing Stones: Poems of Exotic Places. Ed. Maureen Tolman Flannery. (John Gordon Burke Publisher, 2000): 156.

"Red is the color of the year." Knowing Stones: Poems of Exotic Places. Ed. Maureen Tolman Flannery. (John Gordon Burke Publisher, 2000): 15.

“In the House of the Sun.” Get Well Wishes, Ed. June Cotner (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000): 74.

“Each Day.” The Blessed Bee 6 (Autumn 2000): 23. "What the mother means to say." The Blessed Bee 4 (Spring 2000): 27.

"To Soldiers." Out of Line (Spring/Summer 2000): 12.

"Shekhina." 2000: Here's to Humanity, ed. Shirley Richburg. (Baltimore, MD: The People's Press, 2000): 8.

“Walking on the Backs of Whales.” AveNews (March/April 2000): 14.

"Artemis." The Blessed Bee 3 (Winter 1999): 10.

“Ishtar.” AveNews (December 1999/January 2000): 12.

"Wild." The Blessed Bee 3 (Winter 1999): 25.

"To catch a falling leaf." The Blessed Bee 2 (Autumn 1999): 19. "Wishes." The Blessed Bee 1 (Summer 1999): 24.

"The fires." The Museletter: New and Resources for the National Association for Poetry Therapy 19:2 (July 1999): 18.

"Persephone." The New Review 5 (1999): 40-41.

"Demeter." The New Review 5 (1999): 42-45.

"Kore, the maiden at ten." American Writing: A Magazine 17 (1999): 32-33.

"Persephone." Avenues 1:5 (December 1998/January 1999): 3.

"Demeter." Avenues 1:5 (December 1998/January 1999): 3.

"What a Wife Knows of Bones." Confluence 9 (1998): 63.

"The dust rises from the land." MM Review 1 (1998): 20.

"Pandora." MM Review 1 (1998): 21.

"Guadalupe." Mattoid: A Journal of Literary and Cultural Studies. Special Issue on Crossing Cultures. Ed. Jonathan Hart. 52/53 (1998): 80-83.

"Blue is a tongue in the snake of nature." Troubadour 2:1 (Fall/Winter 1998): 23.

"Learning to See." Avenues: Holistic Healing for the Midlands 1:3 (August/September 1998): 16.

"Asherah." Yemassee 5:2 (Winter/Spring 1998): 30.

"America, my mother." The Paterson Literary Review 27 (1997): 152.

"Field Trip to the Art Museum." The Paterson Literary Review 27 (1997): 153. Reprinted in Obsidian II: Black Literature in Review 12: 1-2 (1997): 71-72.

"Your voice, father." The New Review 4 (1997): 45.

"Witches at My Party." The New Review 4 (1997): 47.

"Tending." The New Review 4 (1997): 48.

"Come two women." The New Review 4 (1997): 49.

"Healing." The New Review 4 (1997): 51.

"To Have Been Left." The New Review 4 (1997): 50.

"You write what you cannot say." The New Review 4 (1997): 52.

"House Pleasures." The New Review 4 (1997): 53.

"In the House of the Sun." Messages From The Heart 5:3(Fall 1997): 19.

"You Know." Damaged Goods 1:2 (1997): 24.

"Guadalupe." Genre: An International Journal of Literature and the Arts. Love & Power: Worlds of Dissonance and Harmony. 17 (1996): 117-120.

"Laura's Song." The Carolina Quarterly 48:3 (Summer 1996): 39.

"Antidote for Witches." The Carolina Quarterly 48:3 (Summer 1996): 40.

"Well." Women and Language 17. 1 (Spring 1994): 24.

Prose Publications

"Daughters of the South, Rise Up: On Ganeration, Gender and Race in the 2008 Democratic Election." Who Should Be First? Feminists Speak Out on the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Edited by Beverly Guy-Sheftall and Johnetta Betch Cole. (SUNY Press, 2010): 97-102.

“Penciling It In.” Cup of Comfort for Mothers. Ed. Colleen Sell. (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2010): 302-310.

“On Walking with Balance.” SageWoman Magazine. Issue 78 (Spring 2010): 6-9.

“Our Small & Wild Hearts.” Sage Woman Magazine. Issue 78 (Spring 2010): 96.

“Children of Athena.” Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages. Edited by Cynthia Brackett-Vincent and Carol Smallwood. (All Things That Matter Press, 2009): 109-112.

"Dragonflies Singing.” Contemporary American Women: Our Defining Passages. Edited by Cynthia Brackett-Vincent and Carol Smallwood. (All Things That Matter Press, 2009): 215-218.

"The Earth is a Fallen Woman." The Mom Egg 7 (2009): 113-115.

“Hummingbird’s Journey.” Cup of Comfort for Writers. Ed. Colleen Sell. (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2007): 1-10.

“Of Waves and Hours.” Cup of Comfort for Women in Love. Ed. Colleen Sell. (Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2005): 295-303.

“Fire, Water, Wood.” AveNews (December 2005/January 2006): 3.

“American Cultural Memory, Mourning, and the Possibility of Peace.” Intertexts 8:1 (Spring 2004): 1-13.

“Mothering is Divine.” AveNews. (April/May 2004): 8-9.

“Fatthin.” AveNews (February/March 2004): 13.

“Drawing Strength from Our Mothers: Tapping the Roots of Black Women’s History.” Mother Matters: Motherhood as Discourse and Practice. Ed. Andrea O’Reilly. (Toronto, Ontario: Association for Research on Mothering, 2004): 154-164.

“Prayer.” Tessera 35 (Fall 2003): 143-145.

“Chocolate.” Literary Mama. February 2004. www.literarymama.com

“Crazy Blood.” Tessera 33-34 (Winter 2003): 101-111.

“Persephone’s Choice.” Weed Wanderings, an ezine. December 2003. http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/december03/wisewoman.htm

“Holdgive.” AveNews. (Aug/Sept 2003): 6.

“Lakshmi ‘s Lessons of Letting Go.” Aquarian Times Magazine. (Spring 2003): 42-43.

“Spiritbody.” AveNews (April/May 2003): 6.

“Yeah, Me, Yeah.” Blessed Bee (Spring 2003): 24-25.

“Daughter of Maeve.” Cup of Comfort for Mothers & Daughters. Ed. Colleen Sell. (Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation, 2003): 230-239.

“My Whirling Girl.” Cup of Comfort for Mothers & Daughters. Ed. Colleen Sell. (Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation, 2003): 102-106.

“Alonetogether.” AveNews (February/March 2003): 3.

“My Wild Child: How Becoming a Stepmother Gave Me the Seeds of Good Mothering.” Blessed Bee 15 (Winter 2002-2003): 18-19.

“Diesurvive.” AveNews (December 2002/January 2003): 5.

“Dreams of Fire.” Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 4:1 (Summer 2002): 70-76.

“The Shape of My Faith.” AveNews (December 2001/January 2002): 12.

“Life’s Uncertain Tea.” Aquarian Times Magazine 1:4 (Winter 2001): 20-21.

“Airtree.” AveNews (October/November 2001): 7.

“Overturning the Jar.” Skirt (August 2001): 73.

“One strong mama.” Sagewoman (Spring 2001): 22-23.

“Spiritual Fertility.” beliefnet.com Spring 2001.

“Dreamfever.” AveNews (February/March 2001): 4.

“Giving Her Back to the Earth’s Body: A Ceremony for Weaning.” Blessed Bee 7 (Winter 2000-2001): 23- 24.

“Oh Holy Night.” AveNews (December/January 2000-2001): 6.

“Summerfall.” AveNews (October/November 2000): 10.

"Goddess Medicine." Blessed Bee 5 (Summer 2000): 23-24. Reprinted on beliefnet.com Winter 2000.

"Remembering the Great Mother of Us All: Audre Lorde's Journey Through History to Herself." Gendered Memory. Ed. Helga Geyer-Ryan and John Neubauer. (Amsterdam-Atlanta: Rodopi, 2000): 77-87.

"Remembering Our Riches as Maiden, Mother, Crone." AveNews (April/May 2000): 12.

"Isis and the Dark Sister." Blessed Bee 3 (Winter 2000): 24-25.

“Drawing Strength from Our Mothers: Tapping the Roots of Black Women’s History.” Mothering in the African Diaspora: Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering 2:2 (Fall/Winter 2000): 7-17.

"Descent, Renewal, and Remembrance: Autumn Rituals for Women." Avenues 2:4 (October/November 1999): 8.

"Lilith, One of Nine Muses: Inspiring Creativity in Women." Spiritual Connections 1:5 (4th Quarter 1999): 5.

"Notes from the Motherground." Avenues 2:3 (August / September 1999): 8.

"Becoming Demeter: The Sacred Healing Circles of Home and Family." Blessed Bee 1 (Summer 1999): 19-21.

"Birthdeath." Avenues 2:1 (April/May 1999): 13.

"Leading from 'You' and 'I' to 'We': Contemporary American Women's Poetry of Witness." A Leadership Journal: Women in Leadership--Sharing the Vision 2:2 (Spring 1998): 67-80.

"Mutual Recognition and the Borders Within the Self in the Writing of Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa." Critical Studies on the Feminist Subject. Ed. Giovanna Covi. (Trento, Italy: University of Trento Press, 1997): 229-243.

"Etheridge Knight." The Oxford Companion to African American Literature. Ed. William L. Andrews, Trudier Harris, and Frances Smith Foster. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996): 423-434.

"Tension in the Border/and: Meta-criticism and Historiography." Readerly/Writerly Texts: Essays on Literature, Literary/Textual Criticism, and Pedagogy 3:1 (Fall/Winter 1995): 137-150.

"When the Difference Becomes Too Great: Images of Self and Survival in a Postmodern World." Genre 16 (Fall 1995): 183-191.

"Beyond Critique to Survival: Lessons for Life in Meridian and The Color Purple." North Carolina Humanities 1. 2 (Spring 1993): 35-45.