MSU English scholar celebrates debut poetry book with virtual launch
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
Mississippi State University English Instructor Brett Hanley will celebrate the publication of her debut poetry collection “I Was Your Bird” with a virtual book launch and reading on July 15 at 6 p.m.
Hosted by JackLeg Press, the online celebration features Hanley alongside acclaimed American poets Dorsey Craft, Anthony Borruso and Natalie Louise Tombasco. The event will be moderated by Simone Muench, poetry editor for JackLeg Press, and Nicole Tallman, Poet Laureate of Miami.
“I’m very grateful to share my debut book of poems through a virtual event that brings together readers across contexts and geographies,” Hanley said. “As someone who teaches writing, I think a lot about writing as a process of revision and endurance, and this book reflects that. Many of these poems were written and reworked over the course of seven years.”
Expected to release publicly on July 15, “I Was Your Bird” marks Hanley’s first full-length poetry collection. She has published more than two dozen poems in nationally recognized literary journals.
“Brett Hanley is a remarkable poet whose work combines emotional depth, intellectual rigor and extraordinary lyricism,” said Lara A. Dodds, professor and head of MSU’s Department of English. “We are thrilled to celebrate the publication of “I Was Your Bird” and proud to see her creative accomplishments receiving well-deserved national recognition. Brett’s success reflects the vibrant literary culture fostered within our department and inspires our students to pursue their own artistic ambitions.”
Community members and poetry enthusiasts are invited to attend the virtual launch. Visit Eventbrite for more information.
Hanley recently received additional recognition for her creative work with the acceptance of a second poetry collection “No Great Fish” by Black Lawrence Press, scheduled for publication in January 2028. Chosen from more than 1,200 submissions, the manuscript was one of only three selected during the press’s November 2025 open call.
The forthcoming collection follows a mother who, during a single afternoon in the 1990s, packs her children into a car and drives east toward Florida, leaving behind a destructive dynamic in Texas. Hanley describes the work as a “pilgrimage through memory and inheritance as well as a feminist epic,” noting that its book-length sequence mirrors the poetry of Louise Glück and Anne Carson.
Hanley holds a master of fine arts from McNeese State University and a Ph.D. from Florida State University. She has worked as the poetry editor at both Southeast Review and The McNeese Review and was a semi-finalist for the 2022 92Y Discovery Contest and was a 2021 Bread Loaf-Rona Jaffe Foundation Scholar.
For more details about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of English, visit www.cas.msstate.edu and www.english.msstate.edu.
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