RICHARD HOFFMAN

(617) 365-4123 · rchoffman@comcast.net · richardhoffman.org

9 Victory Road · Salem, MA 01970

Education

M.F.A. Goddard College, Plainfield, VT, 1977 · Creative Writing

B.A. Fordham University, Bronx, NY, 1971 · English

Publications

Books

Each Child a Disappearance: New & Selected Poems, 1972–2025. Lily Poetry Review Books, September 2026

Mundus et Infans: New and Selected Suites, Sequences, & Series. Lily Poetry Review Books, September 2026

People Once Real: Poems. Lily Poetry Review Books, March 2023

Remembering the Alchemists & Other Essays. T.H.E. Press, January 2023

Noon until Night: Poems. Barrow Street Press, New York, April 2017

Love & Fury. Beacon Press, Boston, June 2014

Emblem: Poems. Barrow Street Press, New York, December 2011

Interference & Other Stories. New Rivers Press, Moorhead, MN, October 2009

Gold Star Road: Poems. Barrow Street Press, New York, May 2007

Half the House: A Memoir. Harcourt Brace, New York, September 1995; paperback, Harvest Books, 1997; New Rivers Press Many Americas Rediscovery Series, Moorhead, MN, October 2005. Special 20th Anniversary Edition with introduction by Louise DeSalvo, September 2015.

Without Paradise: Poems. Cedar Hill Publications, San Diego, September 2002

Work in Periodicals

Prose and poetry have appeared in Agni, Albatros (Mexico), American Review, Anchor (UK), Antiphon (UK), Ascent, Bostonia, The Boston Sunday Globe (book pages), The Carleton Miscellany, Cincinnati Review, The Common, Harvard Review, The High Window (UK), Hudson Review, Ibbetson Street, Kansas Quarterly, The Literary Review, Louisville Review, The Manhattan Review, Marlboro Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, Pangyrus, PN Review (UK), Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Salamander, Shenandoah, South Dakota Review, New Age, The Sun, The Tahoma Review, The Times Literary Supplement (UK), Tiferet, The Woven Tale Press, The Writers’ Chronicle, Witness, World Literature Today, and the online journals Assay, Breakwater Review, Flashpoint, In-Posse Review, Jamtarts, Ninth Letter, Solstice, and Talking Writing, among others.

Poems and essays have appeared in several anthologies, including Liberation: New Works on Freedom from Internationally Renowned Poets; Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma; The Fourth Genre: Contemporary Writers of/on Creative Nonfiction (5th ed.); Family Trouble: Writers on Writing about Family; Daily Fare: Essays from the Multicultural Experience; An Ear to the Ground: Contemporary U.S. Poetry; The Uses of Poetry; and Eating the Menu: Contemporary American Poetry.

Selected Honors for Individual Works

“This Close,” Plume Poetry — Pushcart Prize

“Remembering the Alchemists,” Consequence — Pushcart Prize

“From the Depths,” Solstice — Notable Essay of 2023, Best American Essays

“Neighbors,” River Teeth, vol. 8, no. 1 — Notable Essay of 2007, Best American Essays

“Love & Fury,” River Teeth, vol. 13, no. 1 — Notable Essay of 2011, Best American Essays

“Wheels,” The Tahoma Review, Fall/Winter 2018 — Notable Essay of 2018, Best American Essays

The poem “Rune” provided the text for composer Jiří Gemrot’s piece for choir and string quartet, which premiered at The Prague Spring International Music Festival, 2018. In 2020, Gemrot added four additional poems to create the suite “No Promises,” which premiered at the Smetana’s Litomyšl Music Festival, Czech Republic.

Additional nonfiction has appeared in Harvard Public Health Review, The Brown University Long-Term Care Quality Letter, Contemporary Long-Term Care, Nursing Homes, and The Quality Care Advocate.

Grants and Awards

• Pushcart Prize Fellowship (Residency, Jentel Foundation, Wyoming), 2022

• Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry, 2018 — Massachusetts Center for the Book, for Noon until Night
• NEIBA New England Book Award, finalist — Love & Fury
• Brother Thomas Fellowship Award, The Boston Foundation, 2009
• New England Poetry Club, Sheila Motton Book Award for best poetry collection, 2009
• New England Poetry Club, Gretchen Warren Award for best poem, 2009
• Barrow Street Press Poetry Prize, 2006
• Charles Angoff Award, The Literary Review, 2002
• Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship (fiction), 2002
• Grolier Poetry Prize, Runner-up, 2000
• Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship (fiction), 1996
• Somerville Arts Council Grant (fiction), 1986
• Massachusetts Artists’ Foundation Fellowship (nonfiction), 1985
• New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship (poetry), 1983
• Half the House: A Memoir — Book of the Year, The Boston Athenaeum Readers’ Group, 1996

Interviews

The Museum of Americana, a Literary Review Spring 2023, with Ann Beman. https://themuseumofamericana.net/interview-with-richard-hoffman-by-ann-beman/

The Writers’ Chronicle vol. 51, no. 2, October/November 2018, with Renée Olander.

The High Window Journal (UK) Summer 2017, with editor Anthony Costello.

Writing Hard Stories: Celebrated Memoirists Who Shaped Art from Trauma by Melanie Brooks, Beacon Press, February 2017. [book-length interview collection]

Solstice Literary Magazine Interview on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary Edition of Half the House: A Memoir. http://solsticelitmag.org/interview-with-richard-hoffman/

Solstice Literary Magazine “Five Questions for Richard Hoffman on Memory, Race, and Family,” with Lee Hope. http://solsticelitmag.org/five-questions-for-richard-hoffman-on-memory-race-and-family/

Massachusetts Poetry Foundation “Letting the Story Unfold,” by Charles Coe, 2015. http://www.masspoetry.org/richardhoffman/

Our Man in Boston “A Man for All/Some Seasons: An Interview with Richard Hoffman,” by Robert Birnbaum, 2015. https://ourmaninboston.wordpress.com/2015/12/21/a-man-for-all-seasons-richard-hoffman/

Porter Square Books “The Audacity of Richard Hoffman.” http://portersquarebooksblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-audacity-of-richard-hoffman.html

HCAM TV, Hopkinton, MA “Poetry in Motion.” 30-minute interview with Elizabeth Lund.

Boston Neighborhood Network “The Literati Scene.” Interview with Smoki Bacon and Dick Concannon.

Somerville Cable Access TV “Poet to Poet.” Interview with Doug Holder.

NBC News / KTUU Television, Anchorage Two 5-minute news segments on institutional responses to the sexual abuse of children.

Consider This, KAKM Anchorage Public Television Discussion of Half the House, sexual violence against children, justice, and reparations.

To the Point, KCRW Los Angeles / Public Radio International Discussion of youth, media, and sexuality.

Dateline NBC Eighteen-minute segment with correspondent John Hockenberry, chronicling the impact of Half the House, which led to the arrest of a coach who had sexually assaulted more than 400 children over forty years.

Soundings, Public Radio International Interview with Wayne Pond. National Center for the Humanities.

Radio Times, WHYY-FM, Philadelphia Interview with Marty Moss-Coane.

Men in Sport, WIP Radio, Philadelphia Interview with Peter Solomon.

The Book Case, Continental Cablevision Interview with Michelle Breneman.

Culture TV, Albany, NY Interview with Gary McClouth.

Keynotes, Panels, and Talks

National Writers’ Union, Boston Chapter — February 2, 2025

Keynote address.

Annual AWP Conference, Portland, OR — March 29, 2019

Panel: “Me Too: Writing Your Way Through (and Out of) Childhood Sexual Abuse” with Laure-Ann Bosselaar, Nickole Brown, Dorianne Laux, and Kamilah Aisha Moon.

Anglo-American University, Prague, Czech Republic — May 24, 2018

Reading with poet Kathleen Aguero and composer David Post.

Salem State University Poetry Seminar 2017, Salem Athenaeum — June 9, 2017

Keynote reading and Master Class.

NonFictioNow! Conference 2017, University of Iceland, Reykjavík — June 3, 2017

Panel: “When Writers Repeat Themselves: New Disguises or Fresh Approaches?” with Hope Edelman, Desirae Matherly, Mimi Schwartz, and Michael Steinberg.

Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem, MA — 2017

Featured reading with Fred Marchant, Gail Mazur, and Lloyd Schwartz.

Annual AWP Conference, Washington, DC — February 9, 2017

Panel: “I Didn’t Ask to Be in Your Story: When Names Matter and When They Don’t” with Mike Steinberg, Phillip Lopate, Mimi Schwartz, and Laurie Stone.

San Miguel de Allende Poetry Week, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico — January 8, 2017

Faculty reading and Q&A.

Kachemak Bay Writers Conference, Homer, AK — June 10, 2016

Lecture: “Borrowings: Lyricism, Stagecraft, and Verisimilitude for the Nonfiction Writer.”

Kachemak Bay Writers Conference, Homer, AK — June 12, 2016

Panel: “Writing Across Genres” with Forrest Gander, Alison Hawthorne Deming, and Dan Beachy-Quick.

Annual AWP Conference, Los Angeles, CA — March 30–April 2, 2016

Two panels: “Writing and Trauma” with Suzanne Strempek Shea, Ruthie Rohde, and Anthony D’Aries; “The Poetics of Loss: Writing About Private, Public, and Historical Grief” with Richard Michelson, Robin Becker, and Jan Freeman.

Robert J. Carr Visiting Author Series, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign — March 8, 2016

Reading and Q&A.

Dingle Bookshop, Dingle, Ireland — July 30, 2015

Reading and book-signing with Ann Hood.

Fairfield University MFA Program, Enders Island, CT — July 20, 2015

Lecture: “Square, Plumb, Level, and True: The Ethics of Memoir” and reading.

South South Institute on Sexual Violence Against Boys and Men, Phnom Penh, Cambodia — May 25–29, 2015

Workshop: “Writing the Healing Narrative.”

Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem, MA — 2015

Headline reading with Marge Piercy.

Boston Book Festival, Hancock Hotel Ballroom — October 25, 2014

Panel: “Memoir: Journeys Within and Without” with H.D.S. Greenway, Alden Jones, and Sir Peter Stothard.

Martha’s Vineyard Author Lecture Series, Chilmark Community Center — August 21, 2014

Panel: “Writing Memoir” with Katie Hafner, Gail Sheehy, and Alexandra Styron.

Harvard Medical School Annual Conference on Child Psychotherapy, Park Plaza Hotel, Boston — April 4–5, 2014

Lecture/presentation: “Revising the Story, Renewing the Self.”

Annual AWP Conference, Seattle — February 27–28, 2014

Panels: “The Third I: The Writer as Mediator in Memoir and Personal Narrative” with Janice Gary, Aimee Liu, and Meredith Hall; “Switching Genres Midstream: Searching for the Right Match” with Mimi Schwartz, Elizabeth Kadetsky, and Renée D’Aoust.

A Conversation with Ivan Klima, Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA — November 14, 2013

Sponsored by PEN New England and The Harvard Bookstore. Moderator.

Central European University, Budapest, Hungary — May 23, 2013

Reading.

Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany — May 21, 2013

Reading and lecture on American poetry, with emphasis on Derek Walcott.

PEN World Voices Tour, Harvard Bookstore — May 4, 2011

Moderator: Panel with Jonas Hassen Khemiri, Elif Shafak, Daniel Orozco, and Leila Aboulela.

Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem, MA — 2012

Panel: “The State of Poetry” with Charles Coe, Susan Rich, Jennifer Jean, and Joseph Legaspi.

Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem, MA — 2011

Panel: “Poetry and Dissent: Practice and Pitfalls” with Greg Delanty and Linda McCarriston.

Annual AWP Conference, Chicago — February 14, 2009

Panel: “What’s the Sentence? Writing about Crime in Literary Nonfiction” with Joe Mackall, Kate Flaherty, Kelly Grey Carlisle, and Gaynell Gavin.

MLK Day Observance, Bates College — January 19, 2009

Panel: “Creative Writing and Social Change” with Don Belton, Reza Jalali, James Francis, and Susan Pelletier.

Bruised and Broken: Abused Boys and Healing Men, MLK Day Observance, University of Pennsylvania — January 21, 2009

Reading and talk from Half the House: A Memoir.

PEN New England / WGBH Cambridge Forum — April 10, 2008

Moderator: “The American Blandscape: Risky Writing and the Forces That Keep It Silent.” Panel with Carole Horne (Harvard Book Store), Linda McCarriston (University of Alaska), Mark Pawlak (Hanging Loose Press), and Jill Petty (South End Press).

NonFictioNow! Conference 2007, University of Iowa — November 1–3, 2007

Panel: “Square, Plumb, Level, True: The Ethical Dilemmas of Creative Nonfiction” with Mimi Schwartz, Philip Gerard, and Dinty W. Moore.

Annual AWP Conference, Atlanta, GA — February 28–March 3, 2007

Panel: “True Blue: Writing and Teaching from a Working Class Perspective” with Mary Childers, Linda McCarriston, Joe Mackall, and Afaa Michael Weaver.

Fourth Annual Common Ground International Conference on the Book, Hyatt Regency Boston — October 10–12, 2006

Plenary session panel: “Truth-telling in the 21st Century” with Sara Nelson (Publishers Weekly) and Hélène Atwan (Beacon Press); Closing Plenary reading with Pamela Painter and Daniel Tobin.

Fifth International Festival of Poetry, El Salvador — October 2–7, 2006

Twelve readings in five days with poets from France, Spain, Italy, Nigeria, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Ecuador, Argentina, Venezuela, and Guatemala. Sponsored by Fundación Poetas de El Salvador.

The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua, The Chautauqua Institution — August 11, 2006

Lecture: “James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket.”

Annual AWP Conference, Austin, TX — March 2006

Panel: “Low Residency Programs, Then & Now” with Elaine Terranova, Sharon White, and Patricia Eakins.

NonFictioNow! Conference 2005, University of Iowa — November 10–12, 2005

Panel: “You Get No Credit for Playing: When Sport Occasions Memoir” with Dale Rigby, Gretchen Legler, James McKean, and Michael Steinberg.

Envisioning Change Conference, Jane Doe, Inc., Marlborough, MA — June 24, 2005

Panel: “Survivors’ Leadership: Influencing Policies, Communities, and Organizations.”

Annual AWP Conference, Vancouver, BC — March 31, 2005

Panel: “Writing with Heart AND Intellect” with Grace Paley, Linda McCarriston, Marybeth Holleman, and Elizabeth Wales.

Children’s Cove / Barnstable County District Attorney’s Office Conference — June 18, 2004

Keynote: “Current Thinking / New Directions.”

Alaska Press Women’s Luncheon, Anchorage — March 4, 2004

Keynote.

Pacific Rim Conference on Literature and Rhetoric, University of Alaska, Anchorage — March 5, 2004

“The Writer as Grass Roots Intellectual.”

The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua, The Chautauqua Institution — August 8, 2003

Lecture: “Memoir’s Motives: Ethical Issues in First-Person Nonfiction.”

Boston Area Rape Crisis Center, Northeastern University — December 7, 2002

Keynote and panelist.

The Grolier Poetry Bookshop — September 21, 2002

Reading and book-signing for publication of Without Paradise.

Massachusetts Medical Society Conference on Improving Services for Survivors of Sexual Assault — September 20, 2002

Panelist: “Emerging Issues in Response to Sexual Assault.”

National Writers’ Union / Cambridge Center for Adult Education — April 10, 2002

Panelist: “Writing from Life: Why Should Anyone Care About Your Story?”

The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua, The Chautauqua Institution — July 7, 2000

Lecture: “Democracy’s Genre: Memoir as the Literature of Witness.”

Massachusetts Attorney General’s Conference on Violence and Its Victims, World Trade Center, Boston — April 25, 2000

Keynote address.

11th Annual “To Tell the Truth” Conference, Rhode Island College — November 7, 1999

Keynote address.

4th Annual Conference, New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence — October 2–3, 1999

Keynote address.

Compunction: Art as Catalyst & Catharsis, Brown University — May 18–20, 1999

Talk: “The Right Not to Lie: Complicity, Silence, and Literary Responsibility.”

17th Annual AWP Conference, Albany, NY — April 17, 1999

Roundtable: “Who If Not Us: Writers and Literary Silence” with Reginald Gibbons, Carol Bly, Linda McCarriston, and Gene Bell-Villada.

6th Annual New Hampshire Department of Justice Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect — October 22–24, 1998

Keynote address.

Cambridge Adult Education Center / National Writers’ Union, Boston — April 1998

“The Writer’s Life.”

Fair Play or Foul Ball? A Symposium on Ethics & Sport, Brown University — April 9, 1998

Panelist.

Boston Public Library — April 3, 1997

Panel: “Memoirs: Why Write Them Now?” with Rafael Campo, John Hockenberry, and Lauren Slater.

Writing for Love & Money, National Writers’ Union Conference, John F. Kennedy School of Government — April 26, 1997

Panelist.

2nd Annual New Voices Conference, Misty Valley Books, Chester, VT — January 20–21, 1996

Panelist.

Guest lectures and readings have also been given at: Lasell University; College of St. Rose, Albany; John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum; Lesley University; Minnesota State University, Moorhead; North Shore Community College; Pine Manor College; Suffolk University; University of Alaska, Anchorage; University of Maine, Farmington; University of Maine, Orono; The Tilton School; University of Massachusetts, Boston; University of Rhode Island; University of Southern Maine.

Service

• Chair, PEN New England Board of Directors (eight years).
• Selection committee, The Merrill House Residencies, Stonington, CT.
• Steering Committee, Massachusetts Governor’s Commission on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault (2005–2006).
• Fiction judge, New Rivers Press Many Voices Project national fiction prize.
• Judge, PEN New England L. L. Winship Award for best book by a New England author (2003, 2004).
• Steering Committee, Governor’s Task Force on Sexual Assault and Abuse; Chair, Prevention Strategies Work Group.
• Board of Directors, Massachusetts Citizens for Children.
• Member, Men’s Initiative for Jane Doe (statewide coalition on domestic violence and sexual assault).
• Judge, New Hampshire Book Awards, 2008.
• Panelist, Pennsylvania Arts Council Literature Fellowship, 2002.
• Admissions committee, The Millay Colony for the Arts, Austerlitz, NY.
• Head teacher, Cambridge Women’s Commission project (sponsored by the Brookline Mental Health Center): first-person writing with homeless LGBTQ youth. Project resulted in the published booklet “Not Who You Think.”
• Volunteer facilitator, Alternatives to Violence Program, Massachusetts prisons.
• Developed and taught “Tools of Recovery,” a 12-week relapse prevention course for incarcerated substance abusers at Northeast Correctional Center, Concord, MA (six iterations over two years). Funded by the Mental Health Association of Central Middlesex.
• Volunteer writing instructor, PEN New England: Northampton County House of Correction and Bay State / Norfolk (medium-security state penitentiary).

Memberships

PEN America; The New England Poetry Club; The Poetry Society of America; American Association of University Professors / ECCAAUP; National Writers Union. Listed in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers.

Academic and Professional Employment

Emerson College, Boston, MA September 2001–June 2021

Writer-in-Residence / Senior Writer-in-Residence

Full-time appointment (3–3 teaching load) in the undergraduate and graduate Writing, Literature and Publishing programs. Taught writing workshops and literature courses; chaired multiple Master’s theses per term; directed independent senior projects; advised Redivider, a national literary journal; served as undergraduate internship coordinator.

Columbia University School of the Arts, New York, NY March–April 2018

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Master Class in First-Person Nonfiction, MFA Program.

The Writers Hotel, New York, NY June 2014; June 2015; June 2019

Master Class Instructor

Master Class in First-Person Nonfiction in this post-MFA program, sponsored by The New Guard Magazine.

Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY July 2013

Distinguished Visiting Writer-in-Residence

Month-long Master Class in First-Person Nonfiction.

University of Southern Maine — Stonecoast MFA Program December 2002–July 2010

Faculty, Low-Residency MFA

Workshops and seminars during twice-yearly residencies. Mentored five graduate students per semester by correspondence.

Emerson College, Boston, MA September 1999–May 2001

Adjunct Instructor, Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing

Graduate and undergraduate literature and workshop courses; advised independent study projects and Master’s thesis committees.

Harvard University — Graduate School of Education September 2000–May 2001; September 2002–May 2003

Instructor, Office of School Partnerships

Graduate-level writing and literature courses for Boston Public and Private Secondary School teachers.

The Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY July 16–22, 2006

Writer-in-Residence, The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua

Workshop for adults in creative nonfiction.

Harvard University — Graduate School of Education January 2001–August 2003

Instructor, “Teachers as Scholars” Program

Courses: “Memory and Meaning: The Situation of Memoir” and “The Ninth Letter of the Alphabet: Writing the Personal Essay.”

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA August 1999–2000

Instructor, Holy Cross Summer Institute on Writing and Teaching

Designed and taught course on the personal essay for secondary school teachers.

New York State Summer Young Writers’ Institute, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY July 2000–present

Instructor

Nonfiction workshop in summer program for teens.

The Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY July 2–8, 2000

Writer-in-Residence, The Writers’ Center at Chautauqua

Workshop for adults in creative nonfiction.

The Artist’s Way at Work: Riding the Dragon October 1997–January 1998

Senior Writer / Editor

Wrote and edited substantial portions of this bestselling book by Mark Bryan, Julia Cameron, and Catherine Allen, including the lyrical essays opening each chapter; performed extensive developmental editing and reorganization.

Frontline Publishing Corp., Inc. July 1995–September 2002

Editorial Director

Developed continuing education programs for the healthcare industry. Editor of Nursing Assistant Monthly; researched, wrote, and edited the monthly publication and its curriculum guide. Wrote for national trade publications; delivered keynotes and workshops at state healthcare association conferences. Managed a staff of three; coordinated editorial advisory board, freelance contributors, and consultants.

Bay Colony Health Services, Inc. November 1994–July 1995

Business Development Director / Community Resource Director

Responsible for all aspects of market development and public relations for a multi-office outpatient mental health clinic.

Bournewood Health Systems October 1993–November 1994

Referral Coordinator

Developed and maintained relationships with client agencies throughout Greater Boston and the North Shore; managed written communications including brochures, advertisements, and press releases; initiated contracts with HMOs, insurers, and Medicaid. Member, Continuous Quality Improvement Team.

Mental Health Association / CODE Helpline April 1993–October 1993

Interim Executive Director

Responsible for budgeting, board relations, community agency networking, fundraising (United Way, corporate donors), staff management, outreach, publications, public relations, and community education programs.

Mediplex / Spofford Hall January 1989–November 1992

Regional Service Representative

(Previous titles: Education Coordinator, School Liaison, Adolescent Specialist.) Created and maintained a referral base in 71 cities and towns across Northern and Central Massachusetts for a provider of mental health and substance abuse treatment.

Students in Transition, Inc. June 1988–January 1989

Associate Director

Program development, marketing, public relations, and staff supervision.

Chapel Hill–Chauncy Hall School September 1985–June 1988

English Instructor; Associate Director of Admissions; Student Assistance Team Chair; Coach

Roxbury Latin School September 1984–June 1985

English Instructor; Director of Dramatics Program

Blair Academy, Blairstown, NJ September 1978–June 1983

English Instructor; Director of Dramatics Program; Housemaster; Coach