TAMIU Library Dean Harris Blazing Poetry Path to Publication, Nomination, Editing

By day, Dr. Colleen Harris, dean of Texas A&M International University’s Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, directs the 1.2 million-item Library for staff, students and faculty.

After hours she’s blazing a prominent path in poetry creation, editing, and publication.  Dr. Harris has signed contracts for three forthcoming poetry books: The Light Becomes Us (Main Street Rag, releasing summer 2025), Toothache in the Bone (Boats Against the Current Press, releasing June 2025), Babylon Songs (First Bite Press, releasing 2026).

A fourth unpublished poetry book manuscript, Tell the Bees, was just longlisted for the International Beverly Prize for Literature, and in mid-April Harris was appointed as a poetry editor at Iron Oak Editions, where she will be working with that press's team to publish new books of poetry from other writers.

Harris revealed that poetry has long been a passion.

“I was lucky and my mother was a lover of books, so I had Dr. Seuss’s One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish memorized when I was three or four years old. She made the public library a regular part of our lives, and once I learned to write, I wanted to write my own books someday. As I grew older, I loved the way good poetry seemed to put the exact right words in the exact order to say something beautifully, and became obsessed with trying to do that, to write something that would cause someone to want to write themselves,” she explained.

She admitted finding time to write is often a challenge.

 “It’s not easy with such an active Library team and campus, but creative writing clears my head and makes me feel better, the way going to the gym does for other people. I get most of my writing in at night between 9 p.m. and midnight, and on weekends I often write instead of keeping up with my household chores. I write best when I’m most comfortable and in a quiet space...usually in the corner of my couch at the window overlooking my neighborhood, with my laptop, curled up like a croissant with terrible posture,” she revealed.

Harris shared the subject or theme for each of the four collections she’s authored.

“The Light Becomes Us is a book of poems from the perspectives of mother and daughter exploring how family holds both the grace to save us and the tragedies that doom us. The poems are inspired by an amalgamation of my own family dynamics and stories friends have told me of their own families.

Toothache in the Bone is a collection of poems around themes of navigating the world and relationships while dealing with pain and chronic illness. I was diagnosed with the disease ankylosing spondylitis in my 30s.  I was surprised at the impact of the constant pain of the disease on my everyday life, and how people without constant pain have a hard time understanding what life is like.

Tell the Bees explores the intersections between illness, family addiction, and grief at the ways time wears away our bodies and our relationships, and integrates some of my favorite landscapes from Kentucky, California, and other places I lived before coming to Laredo. This collection returns to themes addressed in the other two collections, especially the lessons we learn from family, and the lessons we need to unlearn, and how to keep living when life gets difficult,” she said.

She said the longlisting notification for the International Beverly Prize for Literature (awarded annually to outstanding works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, memoir, or criticism) was a mix of shock and celebration.

“It’s an incredible honor to be longlisted; I was shocked to get the announcement. The first thing I did, of course, was call my mother to cry and celebrate. I am always amazed and humbled when my poems resonate with readers, and in a world filled with so many amazing writers, to have a prize committee at this level believe my whole book of poems is good enough to compete is my childhood dream come true!” she observed. 

Harris said her sight are now set on the evolution of poetry at Iron Oak Editions as poetry editor.

“I’m incredibly excited to join the team at Iron Oaks Editions. For my part, I hope to contribute to the team publishing fantastic poets who might be otherwise overlooked in a world where there are many more poetry manuscripts than book publishing opportunities and to be part of the community bringing forth books of impactful poetry that have a deep emotional impact on readers. What I would like to signal, particularly to students and writers throughout our community, is that working hard, refining your craft, and writing despite the many life pressures dragging your attention away, will build the road to the results you want,” she concluded.

To learn more about the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, visit https://www.tamiu.edu/library, email researchhelp@tamiu.edu, call 956.3216.2112, or connect on social channels X/Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Find out more about Dr. Colleen Harris including her hobbies, research, and the transformation libraries are anticipating by visiting an expanded interview here.

Registration for TAMIU’s Maymester, Summer, and Fall 2025 is underway online via Uconnect. 

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