Betsy Sholl

Betsy Sholl

Betsy Sholl grew up in Brick Town, New Jersey. S he did her undergraduate work at Bucknell University, and received her MFA at Vermont College in 1989. Sholl now teaches at the University of Southern Maine and the University of Vermont writing programs.

Sholl was not originally Mennonite, but gradually decided to join the religious community. She dabbled in almost every church available, but could not find one that totally suited her. When she encountered Mennonites, she found that the “Mennonite tradition gave [her] a place in the faith where peace and justice were valued, not just as political principles but as principles of the spirit as well" (qtd. in Hostetler).

Sholl has had numerous books of poetry published. Among these are Changing Faces, Appalachian Winter, Rooms Overhead, The Red Line (winner of the University of Pittsburgh 1991 Associated Writing Programs Award for Poetry), Pick a Card (winner of the Maine Arts Commission Chapbook award), Don’t Explain (winner of the University of Wisconsin's 1997 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry), Coastal Bop, and Late Psalm.     

Works Cited

Hostetler, Ann. "Listening for the 'Mennonite' in Poetry." Mennonite Life 59.2 (2004). .

"Maine Writers Index: Besty Sholl." M. Williams, ed. Waterboro Public Library. 11 Sept. 2004. .

Christopher Warkentin