Leila Philip is an American writer, poet and educator. She is the author of three books of memoir and narrative non-fiction and one collection of poetry. Philip has been anthologized in a number of books, including: Brief Encounters, Teaching Creative Non-Fiction, Maiden Voyages: Writings of Women Travelers; Family Travels: The Farther You Go the Closer You Get; Japan: True Stories of Life on the Road, A Woman’s Passion for Travel. She has contributed articles and reviews to newspapers, magazines, research and journals including Ploughshares, The Christian Science Monitor, Studio Potter Magazine, the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Daily Yomiuri. Philip has written about art for Artcritical, Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas and Art in America. She is the Contributing Editor of Riverteeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative.
Life
Leila Philip grew up in New York City and graduated from Princeton University in 1986, with a A.B. in Comparative Literature and a Fifth-Year Degree in East Asian Studies From 1983 to 1985, she apprenticed to Nagayoshi Kazu, a master potter in southern Kyushu, then went on to earn an MFA at Columbia University as the Woolrich Fellow in Fiction. Philip has taught writing and literature at Princeton University, Columbia University, Emerson College, Colgate University, Vassar College, and at the Ohio University as the James ThurberWriter in Residence. In 2004 she joined College of the Holy Cross' English department where she teaches creative writing and literature in the Creative Writing Program. Philip has taught at writing conferences and low residency MFA Programs including Stonecoast, The Chenango Valley Writers Conference, and Fairfield University. Since 2010, she has taught at the MFA Program at Ashland University
Anthologized
2015: Brief Encounters, edited by Judith Kitchen,
2010: Why We're Here, edited by Bob Cowser,
2008: Creating Nonfiction, edited by Becky Bradway,
1993: Maiden Voyages, edited by Mary Morris,
Awards and honors
2014: Pushcart Prize in Literature, Nomination for Water Rising
1990: PEN/Martha Albrand Special Citation for Nonfiction.
Published interviews
2012: The Future of Longform: exploring the Space betweenWriters and Readers in the new Media Galaxy, "Picturing the Essay", interviewed by Pepi Ronalds, Melbourne, Australia
Future of Long Form
2011: Writers on the Fly: Unesco Project: Cities of Literature, Iowa City. Interviewed by Ben Hill.
On the Fly: Leila Philip
2010: River of Words: Portraits of Hudson Valley Writers, edited by Nina Shengold, SUNY press
