Lucien Darjeun Meadows was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of what is sometimes called Virginia and West Virginia to a family of English, German, and Cherokee descent. An AWP Intro Journals Project winner, he has received nominations for Best New Poets and the Pushcart Prize. Lucien has received fellowships and awards from the Academy of American Poets, American Alliance of Museums, American Association of Geographers, Bread Loaf Conferences, Colorado Creative Industries, National Association for Interpretation, and University of Denver, where he is completing his PhD.
Lucien currently serves as Poetry Editor for The Hopper and Managing Editor for Denver Quarterly. He is a Certified Interpretive Guide and Certified Interpretive Manager with the National Association for Interpretation (for whom he directed the 2019 National Conference in Denver), and he is often found with the northern Colorado trails as a Volunteer Ranger Assistant and an ultramarathon runner.
His work has been widely published, including features in Appalachian Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Ecotone, Narrative, New England Review, Pleiades, Poetry Daily, and West Branch. He has contributed creative and critical work to several anthologies, including A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia (University of Georgia Press) and LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching (Sibling Rivalry Press), a Lambda Literary Award finalist.
His debut poetry collection, In the Hands of the River, is now out from Hub City Press!
Lucien Darjeun Meadows 