Faculty Spotlight: DeMisty Bellinger-Delfeld

Associate Professor DeMisty D. Bellinger-Delfeld was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, where she studied music and writing in the city’s magnet art schools, including Milwaukee High School of the Arts. She studied English (with an emphasis in professional writing) and music at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. She went on to receive an MFA in Creative Writing from Southampton College on Long Island, NY, and a Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she focused on creative writing in fiction.

In 2012, DeMisty attended Bread Loaf Writers Conference for fiction, in 2015 she was a fiction and poetry fellow at Vermont Studio Center, and in 2021, she traveled to Iceland for a residency at Gullkistan, Center for Creativity.

DeMisty earned many accolades for her writing, including the Mari Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Award in Short Fiction while she was a student in Nebraska and placing on the Wigleaf Top 50 Very Short Fictions in 2014 and in 2022. She also has a short story in the Best Small Fictions 2019.

In 2020, DeMisty published her first full-length collection of poems, Peculiar Heritage, and in 2022, she published her first novel, New to Liberty.

DeMisty does not specialize in any one genre, but writes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Her work explores race, gender, sexuality, and/or economic class issues. Much of her work is rooted in American history and her novel can be considered historical fiction.

Besides writing, DeMisty plays viola with the Fitchburg State Community Orchestra; serves on the board of Worcester Children’s Chorus as Diversity, Equality, Inclusion, and Access Chair; and serves on the board of AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) as the Northeast Council Chair, Publications Chair, and the acting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Chair. She volunteers on many editorial boards of literary journals and presses. She teaches creative writing and first-year writing courses at Fitchburg State University.

Most proudly, she is raising twins with her loving husband in Fitchburg. They all love reading, cooking, and creating art.

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Recent Publications

Books

Novel: Bellinger, DeMisty D. New to Liberty. Unnamed Press, 2022.

Poetry: Bellinger, DeMisty D. Peculiar Heritage. Mason Jar Press, 2021.

Anthologies

Essay: Bellinger, DeMisty D. “2020’s Un-Editable Mess.”  Gerding, Greg, editor. 2020* The Year of the Asterisk: American Essays. 2021.

Short story: Bellinger, DeMisty D. “Sugar Tit.” Grieco, Hannah, editor. And If That Mockingbird Don't Sing: Parenting Stories Gone Speculative. Alternating Current Press, 2022.

Poetry

Bellinger, DeMisty D. “Black Madonna.” Pangyrus, 18 Oct. 2022, www.pangyrus.com/poetry/black-madonna/.

Bellinger, DeMisty D. “Ingress” and “Egress.” Couplet Poetry, Issue 3, Spring 2022, coupletpoetry.com/demisty-bellinger/.

Bellinger, DeMisty D. “IV: You Are.” Ariadne Magazine, Issue 1, April 2021, ariadnemag.com/demisty-bellinger/.

Fiction

Bellinger, DeMisty D. “Esteemed Patrons and Fine Folks.” Dispatch, Volume 3, Fall 2022. www.bureaudispatch.com/volume-03/demisty-d-bellinger-esteemed-patrons-and-fine-folks.

Bellinger, DeMisty D. “Black Girl’s Magic.” Cotton Xenomorph, January 10, 2021, www.cottonxenomorph.com/journal/2021/1/10/black-girls-magic.

Representative Creative Nonfiction

Bellinger, DeMisty D. “Higher and Deeper.” Wildness, Issue 15, August, 2019,  readwildness.com/15/bellinger-deeper

Website: demistybellinger.com