Winter
'11
Biography
At a very early age, Marcia Nehemiah, who was born, raised, and educated in New Jersey, knew that when she grew up she wanted to be, as she put it, "a teacher and an author." After graduating cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a BA in English and French, and a minor in Education, she began a 28-year career teaching English at West Morris Central High School in NJ. She taught all ages, from freshman through seniors, and all levels, from honor students to mainstreamed special needs students. While teaching, she received her Masters degree from Montclair University with a specialization in American Literature. She continued her post-graduate education at institutions such as Wesleyan University, Northeastern University, Jersey City State University and William Paterson University. She received a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to attend a six-week intensive study of Shakespeare at University of Maryland.
During her career, she created and taught two new courses, Creative Writing and Media Literacy, both of which are still integral parts of the English Department curriculum. She contributed two chapters to a textbook on media literacy. She retired in 2002.
In 2010, the faculty of West Morris inducted her into the Faculty Wall of Fame. She is one of only 22 teachers to receive that honor in the history of the school. She was recognized for "the power of her significant influence in the classroom, the school community and beyond."
Although she has been writing since she was a child, when she moved to the Upper Delaware River valley in 2002, she was able to focus her energies on her second chosen career. She became a member of the Upper Delaware Writers Collective, and she has subsequently been the featured reader at many local venues such as the Wayne County Arts Alliance Literary Series Short Readings, the Himalayan Institute's poetry nights, and First Fridays as well as at A.I.R. Gallery in NYC and on National Public Radio's "Theme and Variations."
Deeply concerned for the environment, she writes a monthly column on sustainability for the local award-winning community newspaper. She also worked as Special Section Editor, overseeing the publication of Our Country Home, Upper Delaware Magazine and The Literary Gazette.
Her poems and personal essays have been published widely over the years in such publications as The New York Times, English Journal, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Blueline, Main Channel Voices, Chronogram and The Pedestal Magazine. She won the 2007 Betty June Silconas Poetry Center’s Judge’s Award, Martin Farawell, judge. Two of her poems were cited for Honorable Mention in Perigee’s 2006 Poetry contest, Marvin Bell, judge. In addition, she received Honorable Mention in the 7th Annual Mulberry Poets and Writers Association Regional Poetry Contest. In 2003, 2004 and 2006 her poems were included in the Women Artists Datebook published by Syracuse Cultural Workers. Her first book of poems, “Reclamation” was published in 2005, and "Final Story" was published in 2009. She is currently working on a book-length poem.
Under the auspices of UDWC, she was project director of the 2008 Green Heron Poetry Project, a series of multidisciplinary performances that included poetry, music, storytelling, drama and dance and centered on the theme: "Create the reality that you're hoping for."
She lives with her husband in Lackawaxen, PA where she enjoys writing, reading, hiking, bird-watching, yoga, snowshoeing and making Temari, Japanese thread balls.