World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Lucille Lang Day

るしーる・らんぐ・でい

Rushīru Rangu Dei

Aliases: Lucille Elizabeth Lang

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1947-12-05 （Oakland, California）
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Residence History
Oakland, California → Piedmont, California → Berkeley, California

Career

Occupations
Poet, writer, science and health educator
Active Years
1975-2024
Affiliations
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Hall of Health (director, 1992-2009), Scarlet Tanager Books (founder, 1999)
Memberships
PEN America, National Association of Science Writers, Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE), PEN Oakland (board of directors, 2020-)
Influenced By
Marcia Falk, Clive Matson, Alicia Ostriker

Education

University of California, Berkeley
biological sciences
Degree: B.A.
Country: United States
Phi Beta Kappa
University of California, Berkeley
zoology
Degree: M.A.
Country: United States
University of California, Berkeley
science and mathematics education
Degree: Ph.D.
Country: United States
San Francisco State University
English
Degree: M.A.
Country: United States
San Francisco State University
creative writing
Degree: MFA
Country: United States

Awards

Joseph Henry Jackson Award
1982
Work: Self-Portrait with Hand Microscope
Category: poetry
Organization: San Francisco Foundation
Result: won
Blue Light Poetry Prize
2014
Work: Dreaming of Sunflowers: Museum Poems
Category: poetry
Result: won
Josephine Miles Literary Award
2013
Work: Married at Fourteen: A True Story
Organization: PEN Oakland
Result: won
Josephine Miles Literary Award
2017
Work: Red Indian Road West
Organization: PEN Oakland
Result: won
Northern California Book Award
2013
Work: Married at Fourteen: A True Story
Category: Creative Nonfiction
Result: finalist
Eric Hoffer Award
2019
Work: Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California
Category: Poetry
Result: finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Married at Fourteen: A True Story

2012 memoir

Award-winning memoir about her marriage at age 14 and turbulent adolescence.

child marriageadolescenceself-discovery

Self-Portrait with Hand Microscope

1982 poetry

First poetry collection awarded Joseph Henry Jackson Award.

scienceself-portrait

Dreaming of Sunflowers: Museum Poems

2015 poetry

Poetry collection on museums, winner of Blue Light Poetry Prize.

museumsnature

Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California

2018 ecopoetry anthology

Ecopoetry anthology of California co-edited with Ruth Nolan.

environmentCalifornia nature

Bibliography

  • How to Encourage Girls in Math and Science
  • Self-Portrait with Hand Microscope
  • Fire in the Garden
  • Wild One
  • Infinities
  • The Curvature of Blue
  • Becoming an Ancestor
  • Birds of San Pancho and Other Poems of Place
  • Married at Fourteen: A True Story
  • Red Indian Road West: Native American Poetry from California
  • Fire and Rain: Ecopoetry of California

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Integration of science imagery and concepts into poetryUse of poetry as a tool in environmental activism
Recurring Motifs
sciencehistoryancestrymotherhoodenvironment

Legacy

American poet, writer, and science educator known for integrating science into poetry, promoting girls' science education, and editing ecopoetry anthologies. Authored/edited 20 books and contributed to over 60 anthologies.

Trivia

  • Married at age 14 and gave birth to her first child at age 15.
  • Of Wampanoag, British, and Swiss/German descent.
  • Founded Scarlet Tanager Books in 1999.