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# Jim Reese

Great Plains Writer and Poet

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## Posts

- [News](https://jimreese.org/news/)
- [Coming To A Neighborhood Near You — Book Review](https://jimreese.org/2025/12/17/coming-to-a-neighborhood-near-you-book-review/) - Strictly Haresay By Lisa Hare on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 https://www.lisa-hare.com Coming To A Neighborhood Near You — Book Review In my recent newsletter I sent out to my Reader List—those who follow my work beyond the scope of my duties here at SCJS—I offered some gift ideas for the season, including a couple books
- [A Review of Jim Reese's Coming to a Neighborhood Near You](https://jimreese.org/2025/11/03/a-review-of-jim-reeses-coming-to-a-neighborhood-near-you/) - https://northamericanreview.org/open-space/2025/bill-conroy/review-jim-reeses-coming-neighborhood-near-you
- [Omaha World Herald Review: Omaha native's book sounds a call for prison reform](https://jimreese.org/2025/09/19/review-omaha-natives-book-sounds-a-call-for-prison-reform/) - Geitner Simmons Special to The World-Herald 9/15/25 Coming to a Neighborhood Near You: The Repercussions of Crime and Punishment,” by Jim Reese, Potomac Books, the University of Nebraska Press, 2025. Writers discover valuable truths when they’re able to immerse themselves directly in a subject. Omaha native Jim Reese draws on such personal experience in this
- [SDPublic Broadcastings "In the Moment" with host Lori Walsh](https://jimreese.org/2025/09/05/sdpublic-broadcastings-in-the-moment-with-host-lori-walsh/) - New true crime book takes intimate look at criminal justice system https://www.sdpb.org/show/in-the-moment/2025-08-25/new-true-crime-book-takes-intimate-look-at-criminal-justice-system
- [New book offers new approach to true crime](https://jimreese.org/2025/08/06/new-book-offers-new-approach-to-true-crime/) - - South Dakota Public Broadcasting South Dakota author Jim Reese's "Coming to a Neighborhood Near You" is part memoir and part deeply researched exploration into the impacts of crime and punishment. He draws from his experiences growing up in Omaha in the shadow of a serial killer and losing a high school friend to intimate
- [Dancing Room Only by Jim Reese has been chosen as a Finalist in the 2025 Paterson Poetry Prize](https://jimreese.org/2025/04/08/dancing-room-only-by-jim-reese-has-been-chosen-as-a-finalist-in-the-2025-paterson-poetry-prize/) - The Distinguished Poetry Center in Patterson, NJ Announces: Dancing Room Only by Jim Reese has been chosen as a Finalist in the 2025 Paterson Poetry Prize. The winners of this year's Paterson Poetry Prize are Joan Kwon Glass for her book, Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms, and Nancy Miller Gomez for her book, Inconsolable Objects.
- [Writer Skilled at Addressing Diversity of Topics](https://jimreese.org/2025/03/05/writer-skilled-at-addressing-diversity-of-topics/) - October 30, 2024 7:52 AM NORFOLK, Neb. – Some people are multi-talented. Jim Reese is an accomplished poet and writer, who has been widely published and has spoken at hundreds of venues from prisons to classrooms. He has a keen sense of humor and performed in a band when he was younger. Some of his
- [Dancing Room Only by Jim Reese - A Review by Maryellen Groot](https://jimreese.org/2024/10/04/dancing-room-only-by-jim-reese-a-review-by-maryellen-groot/) - Dancing Room Only by Jim Reese A Review by Maryellen Groot Soundings East Volume 46 2024 Dancing Room Only, by Jim Reese NYQ, 2024 156 Pages For many of us on the old east coast, mentions of the American heartland instantly conjure treasured images of an endless breadbasket capable of nourishing an exploding nation. Amber
- [Reese: More Tales To Tell](https://jimreese.org/2024/02/20/reese-more-tales-to-tell/) - By Jay Gravholt Mount Marty University (MMU) Associate Professor of English Dr. Jim Reese recently released “Dancing Room Only,” a collection of new and selected poems. In a recent conversation with the Press & Dakotan, Reese explained how his love for writing, poetry, music and humor all weave their way into his works. Reese said
- [Reese in Ground Zero](https://jimreese.org/2024/01/30/reese-in-ground-zero/) - https://journalstar.com/eedition/ground_zero/page-g7/page_454d0dee-33ee-5f16-a081-38bd9d19d911.html
- [David Sedaris Talks about Jim Reese as his Opening Act](https://jimreese.org/2024/01/30/david-sedaris-talks-about-jim-reese-as-his-opening-act/) - https://www.mountmarty.edu/about-us/news/jim-reese-opened-for-david-sedaris.-it-was-rhapsody/ Dr. Jim Reese has been pen pals with David Sedaris since 2008. “It all started with a letter David wrote to my Mount Marty students. He sells millions of books, is a ‘Rock Star’ in the literary world and beyond. He meets all of his fans after each of his shows. I’m not sure I’ve met a
- ['Bone Chalk': Jim Reese Maps Out The Heartland In Memoir](https://jimreese.org/2023/12/04/bone-chalk-jim-reese-maps-out-the-heartland-in-memoir/) - Interview with Texas Public Radio, January 8, 2021: https://www.tpr.org/podcast/book-public/2021-01-08/bone-chalk-jim-reese-maps-out-the-heartland-in-memoir
- [Reese is on the moon!](https://jimreese.org/2023/09/15/reese-is-on-the-moon/) - A Time Capsule of Human Creativity, Stored in the Sky The Lunar Codex, an archive of contemporary art, poetry and other cultural artifacts of life on Earth, is headed to the moon. The New York Times https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/27/arts/design/lunar-codex-time-capsule-moon.html This section documents an archive of poetry readings and audio interviews from the long-running program The Poet and
- [Mount Marty University’s community recognition awards](https://jimreese.org/2022/08/04/mount-marty-universitys-community-recognition-awards/) - Mount Marty University, May 17th, 2022 We are proud to announce Mount Marty University’s community recognition award recipients! We are incredibly thankful for what these individuals do in the classroom, on campus, and for the MMU community. Congratulations to all! Distinguished Teaching - Dr. Jim Reese James Award - Dr. Lindsey Barthel Distinguished Achievement (Faculty)
- [The Lives of Writers Podcast](https://jimreese.org/2022/01/08/the-lives-of-writers-podcast/) - Michael talks with Jim Reese about teaching writing at a prison, teaching writing at a college, the midwest, his first collection of essays Bone Chalk, the ways working in poetry previously helped or didn't help him in prose, and more. https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/the-lives-of-writers/jim-reese-ovpFHmwTacb/
- [What Writers Can Learn from Cops and Criminals](https://jimreese.org/2022/01/08/what-writers-can-learn-from-cops-and-criminals/) - NY Times Best-Selling author Marc Cameron and National Endowment for the Arts and Federal Bureau of Prisons Writer-in-Residence, author Jim Reese https://youtube.com/watch?v=nwzHxzeTdXY
- [Los Angeles Review of Books](https://jimreese.org/2022/01/08/los-angeles-review-of-books/) - "Neo-Regionalist Moment: Hearing the Emerging Voices of the American Center" ...This variation and texture highlights an intra-regional diversity across the Midwest, a complexity that is captured not only by O’Gieblyn, Smarsh, and Markley, but also by many other novels of the current wave... Similarly, in nonfiction, the wave includes...Jim Reese’s Bone Chalk (2019). https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-neo-regionalist-moment-hearing-the-emerging-voices-of-the-american-center/
- [Keith Lesmeister reviews Jim Reese’s BONE CHALK](https://jimreese.org/2021/08/05/keith-lesmeister-reviews-jim-reeses-bone-chalk/) - “What Reese is doing throughout, even with the bumper stickers, is providing an unflinching and oftentimes humorous — though some might say terrifying — view of the flyover states, and why not? This is who we are, in some ways, and Reese is showing — teaching — us what that means. No explanations needed. Like
- [Middle West Review](https://jimreese.org/2021/08/05/middle-west-review/) - Bone Chalk Review - https://muse.jhu.edu/article/797283
- [Authors Answer Interview](https://jimreese.org/2021/08/05/authors-answer-interview/) - https://www.authorsanswer.com/interviews/5hd0qkagu9yh5gzk8l3bkw55vaq0dn
- [Make Meaning—Story Can Set You Free](https://jimreese.org/2021/08/05/make-meaning-story-can-set-you-free/) - Episode 73 - Story Can Set You Free: Releasing Your Inner Writer with Jim Reese https://makemeaning.org/story-can-set-you-free-with-jim-reese/
- [Best American Poetry Reviews BONE CHALK](https://jimreese.org/2021/02/22/best-american-poetry-reviews-bone-chalk/) - Best American Poetry Reviews BONE CHALK (a nonfiction book): https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2020/12/the-many-golden-bees-that-hum-inside-my-heart-3-new-books.html
- [Arts in Corrections During the Time of COVID-19 | National Endowment for the Arts](https://jimreese.org/2020/11/10/arts-in-corrections-during-the-time-of-covid-19-national-endowment-for-the-arts/) - In this blog series on how the arts are helping people who are isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have talked about how teaching artists are reaching patients and healthcare workers in hospitals, as well as older adults who are isolated in their homes or in residential care facilities. This final blog will look
- [Jim Rees Live at the Norfolk Public Library](https://jimreese.org/2020/09/10/jim-rees-live-at-the-norfolk-public-library/) - Watch the video here
- [Podcast:  Make Meaning with Lynne Golodner](https://jimreese.org/2020/08/31/podcast-make-meaning-with-lynne-golodner/) - https://makemeaning.org/podcast/episode-73-jim-reese/
- [Siouxland Public Radio The Exchange from KWIT](https://jimreese.org/2020/06/10/
siouxland-public-radio-the-exchange-from-kwit/) - Reopening Sioux City; Racial Reconciliation after a Century in Arkansas This week on The Exchange, we talk with essayist and activist J. Chester Johnson about his new book Damaged Heritage: The Elaine Race Massacre and a Story of Reconciliation. Johnson's beloved grandfather took part in the massacre where hundreds of African American share croppers where
- [Blue Mountain Review – Clifford Brooks reviews Bone Chalk](https://jimreese.org/2020/09/01/blue-mountain-review-clifford-brooks-reviews-bone-chalk/) - https://issuu.com/collectivemedia/docs/blue_mountain_review_18_april_2020/2?ff
- [BONE CHALK  trailer & Brayshaw Creative commercial](https://jimreese.org/2020/09/01/bone-chalk-trailer-brayshaw-creative-commercial/) - Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F64FDi1iUZo Brayshaw Creative BONE CHALK commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1QYTGVOGk4
- [Former Wayne State College mascot to read from his works at Frank Museum](https://jimreese.org/2020/04/06/former-wayne-state-college-mascot
to-read-from-his-works-at-frank-museum/) - Kearney Hub: Former Wayne State College mascot? to read from his works at Frank Museum KEARNEY — Author Jim Reese discounts labels when it comes to his book, “Bone Chalk.” “When I started marketing it, there were a couple publishers interested in it,” he said from his home in Yankton, S.D. “One said that it
- [Jim on the Die Healthier Podcast](https://jimreese.org/2020/04/06/jim-on-the-die-healthier-podcast/) - Dr. James Reese is currently an Associate Professor of English and Director of the Great Plains Writing Tour at Mount Marty College in Yankton, South Dakota. He has also worked for over a decade in the United States prison systems as an educator. Dr. Reese has published three books of poetry, and his most recent
- [“Never Talk to Strangers” featured in Blue Mountain Review](https://jimreese.org/2020/04/06/never-talk-to-strangers-featured-in-blue-mountain-review/) - “Never Talk to Strangers” featured in Blue Mountain Review?
- [Reviews for <em>Bone Chalk</em>](https://jimreese.org/2020/04/06/reviews-for-bone-chalk/) - Norfolk Daily News Essay spurs memories Midwest Book Review, Reviewer’s Bookwatch Feb. 2020 Bone Chalk reviewed at the Compulsive Reader YANKTON PRESS and DAKOTAN—To the Bone NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW—A Review of BONE CHALK LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR—Midwest Home to Universal Truths
- [Finding Other Worlds in Midwestern Towns: A Conversation with Jim Reese](https://jimreese.org/2020/02/05/finding-other-worlds-in-midwestern-towns-a-conversation-with-jim-reese/) - From Oakwood, the South Dakota State University's Literary and Arts Journal
- [This Business Of Music & Poetry  - "Bone Chalk & Prison"](https://jimreese.org/2020/02/05/this-business-of-music-poetry-bone-chalk-prison/) - This Business Of Music & Poetry - "Bone Chalk & Prison" In this episode, Charles Clifford Brooks III and Michael Amidei interview author Jim Reese and talk David Sedaris, Allen Eskens, Ted Kooser, David Lee and how the business of writing is a lot like telemarketing dismemberment insurance. Humor, crime, police ride-alongs and being a
- [Omaha World Herald, Geitner Simmons](https://jimreese.org/2020/01/01/omaha-world-herald-geitner-simmons/) - Omaha native's new book offers insights about Nebraska and the Midwest https://www.omaha.com/opinion/geitner-simmons-omaha-native-s-new-book-offers-insights-about/article_4b5f7747-1dd7-5d28-8bba-0afc6bb2c623.html
- [SD Public Broadcasting](https://jimreese.org/2019/12/30/sd-public-broadcasting/) - Brown Bag Book Club: Jim Reese https://listen.sdpb.org/post/brown-bag-book-club-jim-reese
- [KIRKUS REVIEW](https://jimreese.org/2019/12/30/kirkus-review/) - A clutch of personal essays about Midwestern life that captures the region’s humor, seriousness, and occasional strangeness. This collection by poet and essayist Reese (English/Mount Marty Coll.; Really Happy!, 2014, etc.) contains a handful of interludes cataloging bumper stickers he’s seen in his travels through the Midwest and Great Plains: “Nuke the Whales”; “Don’t Mess
- [The Nervous Breakdown](https://jimreese.org/2019/12/30/the-nervous-breakdown/) - Bone Chalk is Midwestern Americana at its best. Ringing of truth down to the last thought and gesture, Reese creates a modern portrait of small town life; one Norman Rockwell definitely wouldn’t recognize. Built on prose that never fusses or falters, humor, and the endless intrigues that are there in everyday life—if you just know
- [MMC Prof. Wins National Award](https://jimreese.org/2019/02/13/mmc-prof-wins-national-award/) - Jim Reese’s writing has taken him many different places — college classrooms, lecture halls and even prisons. Now, the Mount Marty College faculty member has connected with another special group — the judges who chose him for a top national award. Reese won first place in the 2018 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, named after the
- [THE GREAT AMERICAN READ Documentary](https://jimreese.org/2018/10/17/the-great-american-read-documentary/) - THE GREAT AMERICAN READ Documentary is a PBS series that explores and celebrates the power of reading, told through the prism of America’s 100 best-loved novels. South Dakota authors segment aired October 4th 8:30 PM CST. South Dakota Authors and their Hometowns Special | 26m 46s This special features interviews with South Dakota authors about
- [<em>4 P.M. Count</em> selected for Best Anthology](https://jimreese.org/2018/04/17/4-p-m-count-selected-for-best-anthology/) - Washington Independent Review of Books Best Anthology 4 P.M. Count, from Federal Prison Camp Yankton (10th anniversary issue), edited by Jim Reese. 375 pages. The prisoners are not inmates here; they are seen as students, creative writers, speakers on behalf of their own destinies. http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/april-2018-exemplars-poetry-reviews-by-grace-cavalieri
- [NEA Program At Federal Prison Camp Celebrates 10 Years](https://jimreese.org/2018/02/12/nea-program-at-federal-prison-camp-celebrates-10-years/) - Publishes 10th Anniversary Issue Of Creative Writing Anthology 4PM Count Mount Marty College (MMC) in Yankton and Federal Prison Camp Yankton recently celebrated 10 years of a collaborative creative writing program that aims to change lives through writing for transformative justice. A National Endowment for the Arts program — the only one of its kind
- [Ten Years of "4 p.m. Count" With Jim Reese](https://jimreese.org/2018/03/05/ten-years-of-4-p-m-count-with-jim-reese/) - Listen to Jim Reese on In the Moment ... March 1, 2018 Show 287 Hour 2: http://listen.sdpb.org/post/ten-years-4-pm-count-jim-reese
- [Art Talk with Artist-in-Residence Jim Reese](https://jimreese.org/2017/11/03/art-talk-with-artist-in-residence-jim-reese/) - A Decade of Learning at Federal Prison Camp Yankton: Art Talk with Artist-in-Residence Jim Reese National Endowment for the Arts Blog Read the article here: https://www.arts.gov/art-works/2017/decade-learning-federal-prison-camp-yankton-art-talk-artist-residence-jim-reese
- [Springfield Prison Inmates Rebuild Their Lives Through Education](https://jimreese.org/2017/11/12/springfield-prison-inmates-rebuild-their-lives-through-education/) - GED A New Start - Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan Read the article here: http://www.yankton.net/community/article_e3f00f3a-c5ce-11e7-a565-5fb24a87723f.html
- [Jim Reese reads “Thunder and Lightning” on SDPB Radio](https://jimreese.org/2017/06/21/jim-reese-reads-thunder-and-lightning-on-sdpb-radio/) - South Dakota Public Broadcasting: In The Moment ... June 16, 2017 Show 116 Hour 1 Jim Reese reads "Thunder and Lightning" Listen here, 3rd audio file on the page: http://listen.sdpb.org/post/moment-moment-sound-mat-d
- [Jim Reese on SDPB Radio](https://jimreese.org/2017/02/28/jim-reese-on-sdpb-radio/) - South Dakota Public Broadcasting: Moment in Sound launches a new feature this week. Tune in every Friday for poetry read by South Dakota poets. Today Jim Reese offers his poem "This Isn't Dress Rehearsal." http://listen.sdpb.org/post/moment-moment-sound-aces-and-eights This segment starts at 27:08.
- [Reese’s work appears on Poets and Artists iPoem](https://jimreese.org/2017/01/05/reeses-work-appears-on-poets-and-artists-ipoem/) - James Reese is a poet who keeps American tradition alive with humor and insight. He’s born and bred, teaches in the Great Plains, and captures the every-day with eloquence. I love the stories of his in-laws, children, wife, and students. They’re people that make us feel great, especially now that our country’s family album is
- [Washington Independent Review of Books](https://jimreese.org/2016/10/16/washington-independent-review-of-books-2/) - BEST ANTHOLOGY 4 P.M. Count: A Journal from Federal Prison Camp Yankton, edited by Dr. Jim Reese. National Endowment for the Arts Interagency Initiative with the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons. 240 pages. For eight years poet and associate Professor of English, Jim Reese, has been teaching poetry to prisoners at South Dakota’s
- [Grace Cavalieri quote](https://jimreese.org/2016/08/31/grace-cavalieri-quote/) - "Jim Reese ... He's our Mark Twain of this century ... Jim writes about the everyday experience, and he, in my view, is therefore America's poet." —Grace Cavalieri, from the Poet and the Poem at the Library of Congress
- [Charles Bowden quote](https://jimreese.org/2016/08/31/charles-bowden-quote/) - "We call it the heartland but we seldom drop by for a visit. Jim Reese catches the dying fire of the small town wasteland that staggers on with meth, desire, and neglect. These loving poems open the door to the real little house on the prairie. Time to step inside and finally have one honest
- [test](https://jimreese.org/2016/08/08/test/)
- [Reese reads and records at the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS](https://jimreese.org/2016/07/22/reese-reads-and-records-at-the-library-of-congress/) - The Poet and the Poem. Reese reads and records at the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Listen now on gracecavalieri.com The Poet and the Poem is an hour-long radio interview program hosted by Grace Cavalieri featuring leading poets and sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Witter Bynner Foundation. Click here for Jim Reese.mp3
- [Reese featured in <em>Making Changes</em> published by the Federal Bureau of Prisons](https://jimreese.org/2016/05/06/reese-featured-in-making-changes-published-by-the-federal-bureau-of-prisons/) - Writing Transforms Lives 4 P.M. Showcases Inmate Creative Writing Making Changes (pdf)
- [Dakota Midday: Book Club Author Jim Reese](https://jimreese.org/2016/05/18/dakota-midday-book-club-author-jim-reese/) - Reese joins Midday to discuss how poetry has informed his role as father, the use of poetry in federal prison, and the importance of truth and second chances. http://listen.sdpb.org/post/dakota-midday-book-club-author-jim-reese#stream/0
- [Really Happy featured on Dakota Midday Book Club](https://jimreese.org/2016/02/20/dakota-midday-book-club/) - South Dakota Public Broadcasting Presents Dakota Midday Book Club and is featuring the collection Really Happy by Jim Reese. http://listen.sdpb.org/programs/dakota-midday-book-club#stream/0
- [Really Happy, Reviewed by Kevin Carey](https://jimreese.org/2015/06/21/really-happy-reviewed-by-kevin-carey/) - Really Happy does what a good poetry collection should do, it opens the door to a poet’s life. Reese reveals the many sides of himself with these poems, the teacher, the parent, the friend, a man involved in a life of service and reflection. Once the door to this life is open, Reese leaves us
- [2015 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards](https://jimreese.org/2015/06/13/2015-allen-ginsberg-poetry-awards/) - Jim Reese’s new poem “This isn’t Dress Rehearsal” has been selected as an Editor’s Choice in the 2015 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards, sponsored by the distinguished Poetry Center in Patterson, New Jersey—home of late poet Allen Ginsberg.
- [Washington Independent Review of Books](https://jimreese.org/2015/03/03/washington-independent-review-of-books/) - February 2015 Exemplars: Poetry Reviews by Grace Cavalieri Grace Cavalieri February 23, 2015 A monthly feature that looks at books of and about poetry. Really Happy by Jim Reese. NYQ Books. 76 pages. Reese is a Professor of English, and Director of the Great Plains Writers Tour at Mount Marty College in Yankton South Dakota.
- [Dante Di Stefano Reviews Really Happy](https://jimreese.org/2015/01/27/dante-di-stefano-reviews-really-happy/) - Love Too Much, but Don't Let Go Jim Reese’s third collection of poetry, Really Happy, pursues joy while coasting through the ruins of the contemporary consumer culture, in which an advertisement for Jockey underwear might reduce a wheat field to Cream of Wheat. These are poems in the American grain, equally at home swooping through
- [Walsh: South Dakota has 'vibrant' talent in poetry](https://jimreese.org/2015/01/25/walsh-south-dakota-has-vibrant-talent-in-poetry/) - It's a Friday night in January, and there are about a thousand places to be right now besides at a poetry reading. Yet Zandbroz owner Jeff Danz is hauling out more chairs to accommodate the crowd. It's a small room, yes, but it is full, and it is enthusiastic. Poets Jim Reese and Patrick Hicks
- [Dakota Midday interview with Jim Reese](https://jimreese.org/2015/01/19/dakota-midday-interview-with-jim-reese/) - Poet Jim Reese finds inspiration in such ordinary things as bowling alleys, classrooms, bumper stickers and children’s drawings. He also draws upon his experiences as an English professor at Mount Marty College in Yankton, his work teaching poetry to prison inmates and his life as a father to a couple of young daughters. His poetry
- [A ‘Happy’ Venture: Mount Marty’s Jim Reese Releases A Sweet Collection Of Poetry](https://jimreese.org/2014/11/16/a-happy-venture-mount-martys-jim-reese-releases-a-sweet-collection-of-poetry/) - BY RANDY DOCKENDORF randy.dockendorf@yankton.net | Yankton.net The cover of Jim Reese’s new book of poetry leaves the reader hungry. That’s because the cover of “Really Happy” features a peanut butter cup. The image cleverly plays on Reese sharing the same name as the company responsible for the addictive candy. “I think the reader will like
- [Jim Reese at SMSU - Poems that open the door to the real little house on the prairie](https://jimreese.org/2011/03/21/jim-reese-at-smsu-poems-that-open-the-door-to-the-real-little-house-on-the-prairie/) - Reading review from http://www.mariannezarzana.com (03.15.2011) Jim Reese gave a terrific reading at SMSU tonight--beautiful, powerful poems, equal parts humor--about lingerie catalogs--and gut-punching pathos--about his work teaching prisoners writing. He read poems from his new book, ghost on 3rd (click on book title to read the review in the American Poetry Journal), brand new unpublished poems,
- [The Passages Of Life - YFPC Inmates Share Writing Through National Program](https://jimreese.org/2013/04/03/the-passages-of-life/) - Link to original article BY RANDY DOCKENDORF randy.dockendorf@yankton.net Mount Marty College professor Jim Reese listened with pride this week as his creative writing students read their work on the MMC campus. Then, when the program ended, he helped escort the four men back to the Yankton Federal Prison Camp. Since 2008, Reese has been one
- [Where are they now?](https://jimreese.org/2013/03/06/where-are-they-now/) - http://www.hearnebraska.org/content/five-fives-how-i-survived-my-teenage-years-northeast-nebraska-guest-column
- [Reese Tells Grads To Use Their Voice, Enjoy Creativity](https://jimreese.org/2012/12/27/reese-tells-grads-to-use-their-voice-enjoy-creativity/) - Already an established professor and published writer, Jim Reese walked into his first day of a creative writing workshop at the Yankton Federal Prison Camp and quickly realized he was in for a challenge. The first question tossed at the associate professor of English at Mount Marty College? For more of this story, click on
- [MMC Faculty Receive Awards from Federal Prison Camp](https://jimreese.org/2012/11/05/mmc-faculty-receive-awards-from-federal-prison-camp/) - YANKTON, SD – November 1, 2012 – Warden Jordan R. Hollingsworth and Supervisor of Education Maureen Steffen recently presented S. Cynthia Binder and Dr. Jim Reese, Mount Marty College Associate Professors of English, with Distinguished Public Service Recognition Awards—2012. The awards were in recognition of their exemplary dedication and contributions to the Education Department at
- [PoetryMagazine.com](https://jimreese.org/2012/10/17/poetrymagazine-com/) - Some of Jim’s new work featured on PoetryMagazine.com.
- [Third Place in the 2012 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards](https://jimreese.org/2012/06/04/third-place-in-the-2012-allen-ginsberg-poetry-awards/) - Jim Reese’s poem “Black Words on White Paper” has been chosen for Third Place in the 2012 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards sponsored by the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, New Jersey, home of the late poet Allen Ginsberg. Here is the poem: Black Words on White Paper I am grading freshman
- [South Dakota poets featured in new ebook](https://jimreese.org/2012/05/23/south-dakota-poets-featured-in-new-ebook/) - Rapid City writer and editor Eric Lochridge has published “After Long Busyness: Interviews with Eight Heartland Poets,” an ebook that compiles a series of interviews originally conducted for his blog, “After Long Busyness.” Taken as a unified whole, the interviews reveal a surprising diversity in the poetry community in South Dakota. The poets featured in
- [ghost on 3rd - Reviewed in Western American Literature](https://jimreese.org/2011/12/12/ghost-on-3rd-reviewed/) - Reviewed by David Cremean Black Hills State University, Spearfish, South Dakota Western American Literature Fall 2011, Volume 46, Number 3 pgs. 336-337. The title and cover art of Jim Reese’s fine volume of poetry, ghost on 3rd, evokes thoughts of the film Field of Dreams. Unlike the film, Reese’s life spans two states not of
- [“The Blues in Jeans” nominated for a 2011Pushcart Prize](https://jimreese.org/2011/11/23/the-blues-in-jeans-2011pushcart-prize/) - Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Editor of Paterson Literary Review has nominated Reese's poem “The Blues in Jeans” for a 2011 Pushcart Prize. Final winners of this year’s prize will be announced by April 2012. Here's the poem: "The Blues in Jeans" by Jim Reese When I found the sewing needle in the crotch of my newly
- [Summer Literary Reading Series brings poet performances](https://jimreese.org/2011/06/28/summer-literary-reading-series-brings-poet-performances/) - By Katelyn Sweigart (Mustang Daily) Two poets, not alike in style, read their works to a small but rapt audience at Cal Poly Tuesday. Nebraska poet Jim Reese and Cal Poly alumnus, poet and singer Ephraim Sommers were special guests for the Summer Literary Reading Series, directed by Cal Poly English professor Kevin Clark. During
- [ghost on 3rd chosen as finalist for Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award](https://jimreese.org/2011/04/21/ghost-on-3rd-chosen-as-finalist-for-milt-kessler-poetry-book-award/) - Jim Reese’s book ghost on 3rd has been chosen as a Finalist in the 2010 State University of New York-Binghamton Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award. The winner of the 2010 Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award is C.K. Williams for his book Wait. The other finalists are: Crave Radiance: New and Selected Poems 1990-2010 by Elizabeth
- [Interview in the Rapid City Journal](https://jimreese.org/2011/02/17/interview-in-the-rapid-city-journal/) - Interview about ghost on 3rd in the Rapid City Journal - Rapid City Journal Interview
- [Ghost on 3rd in Yankton Press and Dakotan](https://jimreese.org/2011/02/17/ghost-on-3rd-in-yankton-press-and-dakotan/) - Writing On The Run - MMC Professor’s Latest Published Book Of Poems Showcases ‘Personal Reflections’ You can read the entire article here: http://www.yankton.net/articles/2010/02/13/river_city/doc4b74daec5c1ad363298767.txt
- ["South Dakota Bumper Stickers" featured in South Dakota Magazine](https://jimreese.org/2011/02/17/south-dakota-bumper-stickers-featured-in-south-dakota-magazine/) - "South Dakota Bumper Stickers" is featured in Editor's Notebook on South Dakota Magazine's Blog. See it here: http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/editors_notebook.php?p=3088
- [Hello!](https://jimreese.org/2011/02/10/hello/) - Welcome to my new website. Please view the Tour Dates page for information on upcoming readings and workshops. You can also sign up for my mailing list in the sidebar, for other news and updates. More to come soon. Thanks.

## Pages

- [Home](https://jimreese.org/)
- [About](https://jimreese.org/about/) - Jim Reese is an Associate Professor of English at Mount Marty College in Yankton, SD. His poetry and prose have been widely published.
- [Media](https://jimreese.org/media/) - PODCAST: https://change-the-story-chan.captivate.fm/episode/jim-reese/ https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f6535f4f-c5e0-46c1-ae2f-f71041b4d877/ “American Horror Story” at North American Review: https://northamericanreview.org/open-space/2025/jim-reese/american-horror-story Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F64FDi1iUZo Brayshaw Creative BONE CHALK commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1QYTGVOGk4 SONG: “Willy the Wildcat” composed and performed by Christopher Vondracek https://soundcloud.com/christopher-vondracek/willy-the-wildcat?fbclid=IwAR28Hns6FqRvlKCzoduj_K28AmMojzqx-cF7CZjObUUB5SbWj3l78jGpASo Faith Is by Jim Reese 02/06/2019 By Postcard Poems & Prose Background photo: RoAll/Pixabay, CC0. Manipulation and design layout: Elizabeth Stark THE GREAT AMERICAN
- [Contact](https://jimreese.org/contact/)
- [Ghost on 3rd](https://jimreese.org/ghost-on-3rd-performed-by-peter-lewis/) - Ghost on 3rd - Performed by Peter Lewis: https://jimreese.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Ghost-on-third_PeterLewis.mp3 Peter Lewis: Born the son of actress Loretta Young and film producer Tom Lewis in 1945, Peter Lewis has been a part of show business history all his life. A student of music since grammar school, Lewis began his career as a professional musician when thirteen.
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- [Tour Dates](https://jimreese.org/tour-dates/) - View Past Performances
- [Past Performances](https://jimreese.org/past-performances/)
- [Books](https://jimreese.org/books/)

## My Portfolio

- [Coming to a Neighborhood near You](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/coming-to-a-neighborhood-near-you/) - A deeply personal and unflinching exploration of crime, trauma, and the American justice system In his long search to process his grief over the rape and murder of his teenage friend by a fellow classmate, Jim Reese becomes entangled in prisons—both physically and psychologically. Coming to a Neighborhood near You is the result: his investigative memoir of
- [Dancing Room Only](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/dancing-room-only/) - Dancing Room Only is a wild romp into the forgotten center of our people. With his signature rollicking style, a keen sense of humor, and an acute ear for dialect and voice, Reese archives the sinners and saints that haunt the Midwest and beyond. Author Kent Meyers writes of Reese's work: "In these poems, ordinary
- [Bone Chalk](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/bone-chalk/) - BONE CHALK by Jim Reese (Stephen F. Austin State U. Press, November 2019) Ride shotgun down the back-roads of the Great Plains as Reese becomes Willy the Wildcat at a small Division II school, drives a tractor into an outbuilding his first week on the job, and discovers, sometimes with horror, the truth - after
- [4PM Count](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/4pm-count/) - Jim Reese was one of five artists-in-residence throughout the country who were part of the Arts Endowment’s interagency initiative with Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons from 2007-2021. Here he established Yankton Federal Prison Camp’s first creative writing workshop and publishing course, editing a yearly (perfect bound) journal, 4 P.M. Count, which featured creative
- [Really Happy](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/really-happy/) - Everything about Really Happy, Jim Reese's third full-length collection of poetry, is ordinary - focused on life all around us. But out of this ordinary the humanity of each of his characters comes to life, each craftily spun by Reese in perfect Midwestern tone and tenor, making these saints and sinners feel like family members.
- [ghost on 3rd](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/ghost-on-3rd/) - New York Quarterly Books 2010 Jim Reese's newest collection, ghost on 3rd is riddled with love, latent violence, humor, and prison life. Critics who said that his last collection kicked "like an old pump-12 gauge" will be happy to find the barrels sawed off in this book. Reese shows no sign of putting the hammer
- [A Harvest of Words](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/a-harvest-of-words/) - Contemporary South Dakota Poetry Edited by Patrick Hicks For the very first time, some of South Dakota's best poets have been gathered together into one book. A Harvest of Words offers an excellent snapshot of poetic life as it currently exists in the state and each of these literary artists has been given an entire
- [The Jive](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/the-jive/) - Morpo Press, 2004 Recommendations: The Jive, Jim Reese's first innings as a fictioneer, is a slick curve into the heart of the plate. Reese's baseball tales, heavenly in their innocence, hurl us back to the days when we could still believe we were going to go D-I or get drafted by a ballpark wino who
- [These Trespasses](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/these-trespasses/) - The Backwaters Press, 2005, 2006. Recommendations: The dancers, the writers, the hipsters, and the fighters. Jim Reese knows them all, trespassing into their lives with his good eyes and ears, giving each a gritty moment of worth. If you want poems smooth-tongued or surrealistic, don't look here. But if you want folk as tough as
- [Wedding Cake and Funeral Ham](https://jimreese.org/portfolio/wedding-cake-and-funeral-ham/) - Grizzly Press, 2002 Recommendations: The poetry in Wedding Cake and Funeral Ham is blue collar — unflinching and unapologetic. With a photographer's eye and clear vision, Reese reaches straight for the place that has always kept the working class honest — the heart. — from the jacket. Jim Reese is a poet on a mission.

## Categories

- [News](https://jimreese.org/category/news/)
- [Nebraska poet & writer](https://jimreese.org/category/front-page-quote/)