Maya Jewell Zeller MFA

Biography

Maya Jewell Zeller is a poet, essayist, educator, and editor; recipient of fellowships and residencies from the Sustainable Arts Foundation, Centrum, Artist Trust, University of Oxford, and the H.J. Andrews Experimental Research Forest. Her most recent books include the poetry collection out takes/ glove box, selected by Eduardo Corral as winner of the 2022 New American Poetry Prize; the memoir-in-essays, Raised by Ferns (forthcoming February 2026 from Porphyry Press); The Wonder of Mushrooms (Fall 2025, AdventureKEEN); she is also co-author, with Kathryn Nuernberger, of Advanced Poetry: A Writer’s Guide and Anthology (Bloomsbury); and co-editor, with Sharma Shields, of Evergreen: Grim Tales & Verses From the Gloomy Northwest (Scablands Books). In addition to her role as affiliate faculty in Western Colorado University’s Poetry and Nature Writing low-residency MFA programs, Maya teaches writing and publishing for Central Washington University. She lives in the Inland Northwest with her children—with whom she likes to paddle board, hike, read, play, and get as close to the forest floor as possible.