Lesle Lewis is an American poet and professor. She is the author of seven poetry collections, most recently John's Table and Survival of the Fittest Pronoun (both released in 2026). Her fourth collection A Boot's a Boot was the winner of the 2013 Cleveland State University Poetry Center Open Book Competition. In reviewing her earlier collection, lie down too, winner of the 2010 Beatrice Hawley Award, (Alice James Books, 2011). Publishers Weekly, wrote "Few poets handle both syntax and sound as she does, and few flirt so well both with, and against, common sense, with and against ordinary adult experience."Publishers Weekly > 04/18/2011 Review of Lie Down Too by Lesle LewisAlice James Books > News & Events Her first collection, Small Boat (University of Iowa Press, 2003), won the 2002 Iowa Poetry Prize. Her poems have been published in many literary journals and magazines including American Letters and Commentary, Green Mountains Review, Barrow Street, Pool, The Hollins Critic, The Massachusetts Review, and Jubilat,Alice James Books > Lesle Lewis > Author Page and featured on the Academy of American Poets website.Poets.org > Red Bank by Lesle Lewis
Lewis earned a B.S. in education at the New York University, an M.A.L.S. in English at Keene State College, and an M.F.A. in poetry from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.Landmark College > Faculty Bio > Lesle Lewis She recently retired from teaching at Landmark College in Putney, Vermont, and currently lives in Alstead, New Hampshire.Author Profile: New Hampshire State Council on the Arts > Arts & Artists > Featured Poet
Published works
Survival of the Fittest Pronoun. Quale Press, 2026 John's Table. Piżama Press, 2026 Hydrogen. Factory Hollow Press, 2025 Rainy Days on the Farm. Fence Books, 2019 A Boot's a Boot. Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 2014 It's Rothko in Winter or Belgium. Factory Hollow Press, 2012 lie down too. Alice James Books, 2011 Landscapes I & II. Alice James Books, 2006 Small Boat. University of Iowa Press, 2003
References
External links Alice James Books > Lesle Lewis > Author Page University of Iowa Press > Author Page > Lesle Lewis Landmark College > Faculty Bio > Lesle Lewis Author Profile: New Hampshire State Council on the Arts > Arts & Artists > Featured Poet
Poems: Shampoo Poetry > Issue 14 > Lesle Lewis Poem: Double Room > Issue #6, Fall 2005/Winter 2006 > Lesle Lewis > Yours Is a Contemplative Wine