Photo by Kelly Vann Calaway

Professional Bio

Leah Nieboer grew up in rural Iowa. She holds a PhD in English & Literary Arts from the University of Denver and an MFA in Poetry from the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. Her first collection of poetry, SOFT APOCALYPSE, was selected by Andrew Zawacki for the 2021 Georgia Poetry Prize (UGA Press, 2023), nominated for a 2024 Elgin Award, and named one of the top ten debut collections of 2023 by Poets & Writers Magazine. The winner of the 2022 Mountain West Writers’ Contest in Poetry, she is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the Center for Deep Listening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Denver, the Virginia Center for Creative Arts at Mt. San Angelo, and the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in mercury firs, the Brooklyn Rail, Poetry Daily, Interim: A Journal of Poetry & Poetics, HERE, and elsewhere.

Leah lives in New Orleans, where she serves as a director for the New Orleans Poetry Festival (NOPF) and Chair of its Development Committee, co-hosts the new, experimental ((field generator)) reading series, and produces the Field Generator Podcast.

Academic CV here.

BIO

Hi, I'm Leah

I'm a writer, educator, literary organizer, and podcast host.

My first book, SOFT APOCALYPSE, won the 2021 Georgia Poetry Prize (UGA Press, 2023) and was named one of the top ten debut collections of 2023 by Poets & Writers Magazine. My recent work in poetry and prose has been supported by the Center for Deep Listening at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University of Denver, and a Virginia Center for Creative Arts international exchange with the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus at Kebbel Villa in Schwandorf, Germany.

After finishing my PhD in English at the University of Denver in 2025,

I moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where I currently serve as a director

for the New Orleans Poetry Festival (NOPF), chair the NOPF Development Committee, co-curate the experimental ((field generator)) reading series, and produce the Field Generator Podcast.