Biography
Martine Bellen is the author of ten books, including AN ANATOMY OF CURIOSITY (Madhat Press), THIS AMAZING CAGE OF LIGHT: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS (Spuyten Duyvil Press), THE VULNERABILITY OF ORDER (Copper Canyon Press); TALES OF MURASAKI AND OTHER POEMS (Sun & Moon Press), which won the National Poetry Series Award, and the novella 2X(SQUARED). A bilingual collection of her poetry has been published in Germany by Verlag im Waldgut (translator, Hans Jürgen Balmes). She has written the libretto for OVIDIANA, an opera based on Ovid's METAMORPHOSES (composer, Matthew Greenbaum) that has been performed in New York City and Philadelphia. She has collaborated with David Rosenboom on AH! OPERA NO-OPERA, a pioneering collective work, which has been co-composed and performed by creators from around the globe. Its world premiere was at REDCAT in L.A. MOON IN THE MIRROR: A MONODRAMA OPERA (text: Bellen and Zhang Er and composer: Stephen Dembski) had its world premiere in Flushing Town Hall in Queens, NY and had been performed in L.A., Cleveland, and New York City.
Ms. Bellen's poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies, including THE BEST AMERICAN POETERY, edited by Elaine Equi, 2023 (Scribner), RABBIT EARS: THE FIRST ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY ABOUT TV (NYQ Books); SAINTS OF HYSTERIA: A HALF CENTURY OF COLLABORATIVE POETRY (Soft Skull Press), IN OUR OWN WORDS: A GENERATION DEFINING ITSELF (MWE), THE CONVERGENCE OF BIRDS: WRITING INSPIRED BY JOSEPH CORNELL (DAP) and THIS ART (Copper Canyon Press).
Bellen has been a recipient of the Queens Art Fund, New York Foundation for the Arts, the Fund for Poetry, and the American Academy of Poets Award and has received a residency from the Rockefeller Foundation at the Bellagio Center in Bellagio, Italy. Bellen is a contributing editor of the literary journal CONJUNCTIONS.