Divya Victor

victordi@msu.edu
517-884-4449

C646 Wells Hall
619 Red Cedar Rd
East Lansing, MI 48824

FacultyEnglish

Associate Professor
Literary Studies; Creative Writing; Race and Ethnic Studies; Global and Diasporic Studies; Postcolonial Studies

Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Divya Victor’s writing, editing, and research focuses on 20th, 21stC, and emergent poetry and poetics, with an emphasis on innovative and experimental forms and poets who undertake representations of trauma, both systemic and intersubjective.

She is the author of CURB (Nightboat Books, winner of 2022 PEN America Open Book Award and the 2022 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award); KITH (Fence Books/ Book*hug); Scheingleichheit: Drei Essays (Merve Verlag); NATURAL SUBJECTS (Trembling Pillow), UNSUB (Insert Blanc), THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR MOUTH (Les Figues). Her work has been collected in numerous venues, including BOMB, the New Museum’s The Animated Reader, Crux: Journal of Conceptual Writing, The Best American Experimental Writing, POETRY, and boundary2.

Her work has been translated into French, German, Spanish, and Czech. She has been a Mark Diamond Research Fellow at the U.S Holocaust Memorial Museum, a Riverrun Fellow at the Archive for New Poetry at University of California San Diego, and a Writer in Residence at the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition (L.A.C.E.). Her work has been performed or installed at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) Los Angeles, The National Gallery of Singapore, the Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibition (L.A.C.E.) and the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). 

She has been an editor at Jacket2 (United States), Ethos Books (Singapore), Invisible Publishing (Canada) and Book*hug Press (Canada).

She is currently an Associate Professor of English at Michigan State University. 

PhD. (Literature) University at Buffalo (SUNY)

M.A. (Creative Writing, Poetry) Temple University

Media Mentions

Awards and Honors

Publications

Curb, Nightboat Books. April 2021. 

Curb, The Press at Colorado College. Artist’s Book Special Commission. Colorado, 2019.

Kith, Fence Books (U.S.A), BookThug (Canada). 2017

Unsub, Insert Blanc. Los Angeles. 2015

Natural Subjects, Trembling Pillow (Winner of the Bob Kaufman Award). New Orleans. 2014

Things To Do With Your Mouth, Les Figues. Los Angeles. 2014

University News

Faculty Voice: How Writing and Art Can Connect Us Through Our Stories
Published February 1, 2024 in College of Arts & Letters
a woman in a colorful dress sits at the bottom of a flight of stairs. Photo taken by Marco Giugliarelli.
This personal account talks about the Feb. 13 violence the Michigan State University community experienced and other forms of trauma. It may be disturbing and upsetting for some people to read. If…Read now »
CREATE! Micro-Grant Virtual Student Exhibition Launches
Published January 10, 2023 in College of Arts & Letters
Black photo with the wording, 2022 virtual exhibition. Next to the wording are numerous individual portraits of students.
The 2022 CREATE! Micro-Grant Student Exhibition is now live! This virtual exhibit showcases the 12 student projects that were created based on the winning…Read now »
Department of English Faculty Recognized with Several Awards and Professional Recognitions
Published January 9, 2023 in College of Arts & Letters
The Department of English at Michigan State University is home to a myriad of talented faculty members actively engaged in research and creative activity with several of these scholars and artists…Read now »
CREATE! Micro-Grant Program Announces 2022 Winners
Published August 8, 2022 in College of Arts & Letters
The 2022 winning proposals of Michigan State University’s CREATE! Micro-Grant Program recently were announced and represent a variety of disciplines and mediums. Each of the 12 proposals,…Read now »
CREATE! Micro-Grant Program Launches 2021 Student Exhibition
Published December 10, 2021 in College of Arts & Letters
The 2021 CREATE! Micro-Grant Student Exhibition launches today, December 10. This online exhibit showcases the 12 student projects that were completed based on the winning proposals that…Read now »
CREATE! Micro-Grant 2021 Winners Announced
Published September 9, 2021 in College of Arts & Letters
2021 CREATE! Micro-Grant winners Twelve student projects were selected to each receive $500 CREATE! Micro-Grants to respond critically and imaginatively to events occurring during the COVID-19…Read now »
Curbing Anti-Asian Racism Through Poetry
Published June 1, 2021 in College of Arts & Letters
Through her research and latest book, Divya Victor, Associate Professor in MSU’s Department of English and Creative Writing Program, tells the story of South Asian immigrants, and those…Read now »
CREATE! Micro-Grant Program Now Accepting Proposals
Published April 13, 2021 in College of Arts & Letters
on the very top in black lettering, it says "Michigan State University" and underneath that it says, "with "A creative life during the covid-19" written in small blue letters. underneath is the word CREATE! with large letters that each are a different color and design. underneath in medium red lettering, it says "12 Micro-grants of $500" and underneath that it says "Deadline for proposal submission: June 1, 2021 Funded proposals announced: June 15, 2021" in black lettering
The CREATE! Micro-Grant Program will once again award $6,000 in funding to 12 different student artwork proposals that offer critical and imaginative responses to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis….Read now »
Doctoral Students Receive Excellence in Diversity Award
Published February 4, 2021 in College of Arts & Letters
a woman with curly hair wearing glasses and a man with short brown hair wearing glasses both wearing flannels
Jessica and Michael Stokes, both doctoral students in the Department of English, received the MSU Excellence in Diversity Award for their work with the HIVES Research Workshop. They were…Read now »
CREATE! Micro-Grant Virtual Exhibit Launches Displaying Winning Projects
Published December 10, 2020 in College of Arts & Letters
Colorful banner that says "CREATE!"
The CREATE! Micro-Grant Program supported the launch of 12 student projects that analyze and respond to racial injustice and the struggles brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These…Read now »
Micro-Grants Awarded to 12 Art Projects Addressing COVID-19
Published June 30, 2020 in College of Arts & Letters
Create poster
The CREATE! Micro-Grant Program has selected 12 student projects to each receive $500 to respond critically and imaginatively to events occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of the…Read now »
LAE Podcast Hosts Assistant Professor Divya Victor
Published February 27, 2020 in College of Arts & Letters
Episode three of the Liberal Arts Endeavor Podcast is out! Our host, Dean Christopher P. Long, sat down with Divya Victor, Assistant Professor of Poetry and Writing, to…Read now »
UURAF First Place Winners Announced
Published April 11, 2019 in College of Arts & Letters
four adults standing around a poster and smiling at the camera
Several College of Arts & Letters students received first-place awards for their research and creative scholarship presented at the 21st Annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts…Read now »