Karla Kelsey is the 2025-2026 Diann Blakely Visiting Poet. Kelsey visited Athens between November 11-12, 2025 for a series of events as part of the Blakely Program. In the spring, Kelsey will judge the entries in the 2025-2026 Diann Blakely National Poetry Competition for Emerging Poets.
Kelsey is a poet and essayist whose work weaves together the lyric with philosophy and history. Her poetry books include On Certainty (Omnidawn, 2023), Blood Feather (Tupelo Press, 2020), A Conjoined Book (Omnidawn, 2014), Iteration Nets (Ahsahta, 2010), and Knowledge, Forms, the Aviary (Ahsahta, 2006) selected by Carolyn Forché for the Sawtooth Poetry Prize. Her book of experimental essays, Of Sphere, was selected by Carla Harryman for the 2016 Essay Press Prize and was published in 2017. She is the editor of Lost Writings: Two Novels by Mina Loy, (Yale University Press in 2024). Her poet’s novel, Transcendental Factory: For Mina Loy was recently released from Winter Editions.
Matthew Moore is a PhD student in the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English at the University of Georgia.
A portion of their interview aired during Morning Edition on November 18th. Listen to the full version of the interview above.
