Kory, Fall 2011
Kory Wells grew up on the stories of her southern Appalachian family and the wonder of the Space Age, diverse influences that have shaped her life’s work and writing.
Author of the poetry collection Heaven Was the Moon (March Street Press, 2009), she also performs her poetry on the album Decent Pan of Cornbread, a collaboration with her daughter, old-time musician Kelsey Wells.
Winner of the 2016 HeartWood Broadside Series and two-time finalist for the Rash Award for Poetry, her work appears in Ascent, POEM, Unsplendid, The Southern Poetry Anthology, and other publications. Her novel-in-progress was a finalist in the William Faulkner competition.
After many years in software development, Kory now works as a writer and advocate for the arts, democracy, afternoon naps, and other good causes. She also mentors poetry students in the low-residency program MTSU Write and is the founder and frequent host of Poetry in the Boro.
The intersection of Kory’s writing and tech careers occurs in her essay “Really Good for a Girl” which leads the anthology She’s Such a Geek: Women Write About Science, Technology and Other Nerdy Stuff. Ladies Home Journal picked Geek as one of its December 2006 “Books We Love” and singled out Kory’s writing that will “resonate with any woman, geek or not.”
Max keeping Kory company in the porch swing several years back.
A seventh generation Tennessean, Kory was born in Chattanooga and has lived most of her life in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She holds B.S. and M.S. degrees from Middle Tennessee State University and has been a writer-in-residence at Rivendell Writers Colony. Mother of two, she’s the daughter of railroader Jim Green and writer Judy Lee Green.
Kory has also been a small business owner, college instructor, student pilot, Girl Scout leader, Sunday school teacher, copy editor and shoe store clerk. She’s always wanted to be an astronaut and a country singer. She’s a fan of shiny bracelets, dangly earrings, sensible shoes, and coffee.
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Publications
Ascent, Broad River Review, Chapter 16, Christian Science Monitor, Contemporary Haibun Online, Deep South Magazine, Kudzu, Literary Mama, New Southerner, Now & Then, Number One, Pindeldyboz, POEM, Rock & Sling, Ruminate, The Southern Poetry Anthology, Southern Women’s Review, SWWIM, Unsplendid, Words Dance, and others, including a cookbook (poetry in a cookbook – yes!).
