Michael William Fleming

Michael William Fleming

736 Bonnyvale Road, Brattleboro, Vermont 05301

(802) 579-1700 / wyomike@earthlink.net

 

SUMMARY

Creative editor, essayist, novelist, and poet with wide-ranging interests and extensive international experience; award-winning teacher of composition and literature.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Writer/Editor (Freelance) 2003 – present


Little, Brown and Company   Trade Publisher

Island Press   Publisher of Books on the Environment & Responsible Development

  • Copyeditor:

    • Living Off-Grid: 50 Steps to Unplug, Become Self-Sufficient, and Build the Homestead of Your Dreams,

         Ryan Mitchell (2025, forthcoming)

    Poisoning the Well: How Forever Chemicals Contaminated America,

         Sharon Udasin & Rachel Frazin (2025, forthcoming)

    A Year of Compassion: 52 Weeks of Living Zero-Waste, Plant-Based, and Cruelty-Free,

         Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (2025, forthcoming)

    Meet Me at the Library: A Place to Foster Social Connection and Promote Democracy,

         Shamichael Hallman (2024)

    The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Climate Violence,

         Peter Schwartzstein (2024)

    Making Climate Tech Work: Policies That Drive Innovation,

         Alon Tal (2024)

    Invisible No More: Voices from Native America,

         Raymond Foxworth & Steve Dubb, eds. (2023)

    The Jewel Box: How Moths Illuminate Nature’s Hidden Rules,

         Tim Blackburn (2023)

    A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir’s Journey through an Endangered Land,

         Dan Chapman (2022)

    Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places,

         James Rojas & John Kamp (2022)

    Bird Brother: A Falconer’s Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife,

         Rodney Stotts with Kate Pipkin (2022)

    Swamplands: Tundra Beavers, Quaking Bogs, and the Improbable World of Peat,

         Edward Struzik (2021)

    A Good Drink: In Pursuit of Sustainable Spirits,

         Shanna Farrell (2021)

    The Cougar Conundrum,

         Mark Elbroch (2020)

    DIY City: The Collective Power of Small Actions,

         Hank Dittmar (2020)

    Strategic Corporate Conservation Planning,

         Margaret O’Gorman (2020)

    The Power of Existing Buildings: Save Money, Improve Health, and Reduce Environmental Impacts,

         Robert Sroufe, Craig Stevenson, & Beth Eckenrode (2019)

    Protecting Pollinators: How to Save the Creatures That Feed Our World,

         Jodi Helmer (2019)

    The Grand Food Bargain: And the Mindless Drive for More,

         Kevin Walker (2019)

    Trains, Buses, People: An Opinionated Atlas of US Transit,

         Christof Spieler (2018)

    The Great Lakes Water Wars 2e,

         Peter Annin (2018)

    Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality,

         Melissa Bruntlett & Chris Bruntlett (2018)

    The Divided City: Poverty and Prosperity in Urban America,

         Alan Mallach (2018)

    Copenhagenize: The Definitive Guide to Global Bicycle Urbanism,

         Mikael Colville-Andersen (2018)

    Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling,

         Carlton Reid (2017)

    Natural Defense: Enlisting Bugs and Germs to Protect Our Food and Health,

         Emily Monosson (2017)

    No One Eats Alone: Food as a Social Enterprise,

         Michael Carolan (2017)

    Seeing the Better City: How to Explore, Observe, and Improve Urban Space,

         Charles R. Wolfe (2017)

    Nature’s Allies: Eight Conservationists Who Changed Our World,

         Larry Nielsen (2017)

    Landscape Architecture Theory: An Ecological Approach,

         Michael Murphy (2016)

    Design Professional’s Guide to Zero Net Energy Buildings,

         Charles Eley (2016)

    Water Is for Fighting Over: And Other Myths about Water in the West,

         John Fleck (2016)

    Modern Poisons: A Brief Introduction to Contemporary Toxicology,

         Alan Kolok (2016)

    The Future of the Suburban City: Lessons from Sustaining Phoenix,

         Grady Gammage (2016)

    Satellites in the High Country: Searching for the Wild in the Age of Man,

         Jason Mark (2015)

    The End of Automobile Dependence: How Cities Are Moving beyond Car-Based Planning,

         Peter Newman & Jeffrey Kenworthy (2015)

    Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence,

         Stefano Mancuso & Alessandra Viola (2015)

    Chasing the Red Queen: The Evolutionary Race Between Agricultural Pests and Poisons,

         Andy Dyer (2014)

    Unnatural Selection: How We Are Changing Life, Gene by Gene,

         Emily Monosson (2014)

    Connecting to Change the World: Building Networks for Social Impact,

         Peter Plastrik, Madeleine Taylor, & John Cleveland (2014)

    An Indomitable Beast: The Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar,

         Alan Rabinowitz (2014)

    The Carnivore Way: Coexisting with and Conserving North America’s Predators,

         Cristina Eisenberg (2014)

    Next-Generation Infrastructure: Principles for Post-Industrial Public Works,

         Hillary Brown (2014)

    Foreclosing the Future: The World Bank and the Politics of Environmental Destruction,

         Bruce Rich (2013)

    Transport Beyond Oil: Policy Choices for a Multimodal Future,

         John L. Renne & Billy Fields, eds. (2013)

    Observation and Ecology: Broadening the Scope of Science to Understand a Complex World,

         Rafe Sagarin & Aníbal Pauchard, eds. (2012)

    Corporation 2020: Transforming Business for Tomorrow’s World,

         Pavan Sukhdev (2012)

    Marketing for Scientists: How to Shine in Tough Times,

         Marc Kuchner (2012)

    The Global Farms Race: Land Grabs, Agricultural Investment, and the Scramble for Food Security,

         Michael Kugelman & Susan L. Levenstein, eds. (2012)

    Tibet Wild: A Naturalist’s Journeys on the Roof of the World,

         George B. Schaller (2012)

    Temperate and Boreal Rainforests of the World: Ecology and Conservation,

         Dominick A. DellaSala, ed. (2010)

    Principles of Brownfield Regeneration: Cleanup, Design, and Reuse of Derelict Land,

         Justin B. Hollander et al. (2010)

    Conservation by Proxy: Indicator, Umbrella, Keystone, Flagship, and Other Surrogate Species,

         Tim Caro (2010)

    Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water,

         Peter Gleick (2009)

    Catastrophe in the Making: The Engineering of Katrina and the Disasters of Tomorrow,

         William R. Freudenburg et al. (2009)

    Heatstroke: Saving Nature in an Age of Global Warming,

         Anthony D. Barnosky (2009)

W. W. Norton & Company   Publisher of College Textbooks

  • Developmental editor:

    • We the People, 9e (political science textbook, 2013)

    The Norton Introduction to Poetry, 9e (2005)

    The Norton Introduction to Literature, 9e (2005)

  • Copyeditor:

    • The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 5e, vols. A, C, & E (2024)

    The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 4e, vols. A, B, C, E, & F (2018)

    The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 10e, vols. A & F (2018)

    The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 9e, vols. C & E (2016)

    Western Civilizations, Joshua Cole & Carol Symes, 18e (2015)

    The Norton Mix: World History, 1e (2014)

    America, 9e (history textbook, 2014)

    The Norton Anthology of African American Literature, 3e, vols. C & F (2013)

    The Norton Introduction to Literature, 11e (2013)

    The Norton Mix: American History, 1e (2013)

    The Norton Sampler, 8e (2013)

    The Norton Anthology of World Literature, 3e (2012)

    The Norton Anthology of American Literature, 8e (2011)

    Born in Blood and Fire: Voices from Latin America, 1e (2011)

    The Norton Reader, 13e (2011)

    The Norton Introduction to Literature, 10e (2010)

    Born in Blood and Fire, J. C. Chasteen (2e, 2010)

    The Norton Mix: Composition, 1e (2010)

    Western Civilizations, Judith G. Coffin & Robert C. Stacey, 17e (2010)

    The Norton Anthology of American Literature, vol. A, 7e (2008)

    Biography and the Sociological Imagination, Michael Shanahan & Ross Macmillan (2007)

    The Norton Field Guide to Writing, with Readings, 1e (2007)

    The Norton Introduction to Literature, 9e (2005)

  • Writer:

    • headnotes, The Norton Sampler, 9e (2017)

    author biographies, The Norton Reader, 13e (2011), 14e (2015), 15e (2019)

    headnotes, Back to the Lake, Thomas Cooley, ed. (college-level essay collection, 2008)

    interactive tutorial, Academic Honesty and Avoiding Plagiarism (2007)

    headnotes, The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 7e (2006)

  • Annotations writer/editor and text editor:

    • The Norton Anthology of Drama, 1e (2009)

Additional Editing Projects

 

Senior Editor (In-House) 2000 – 2003


Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, NY   Publisher of Textbooks

  • Planned, organized, and edited last edition of Adventures in American Literature.

  • Wrote and edited all pedagogical material for The Holt Reader (grade-11 anthology).

  • Managed the work of assistants and freelancers; conducted in-depth analysis of company editorial procedures.

 

Lecturer, Undergraduate Expository Writing Programs 1991 – 1999


University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Baruch College, City University of New York, New York, NY

Colleges of Arts and Sciences

  • Taught a wide range of composition courses to more than 600 students over 15 semesters.

  • Developed and taught new courses: “Science and Writing I & II,” “The American Literature of Exploration and Travel,” “American Grammar.”

  • Assessed placement exams each semester, and twice served as Chief Reader.

  • Tutored undergraduate and graduate students in Writing Center.

 

Assistant Director, Secondary School Mathematics Program 1990 – 1991


Education & Technology Foundation, San Francisco, CA

Not-for-Profit Publisher of Materials for Secondary Education

  • Developed, wrote, and edited materials for Sci-Math, a federally funded project for improving high-school mathematics instruction.

  • Wrote and edited a Sci-Math newsletter for widespread distribution.

  • Conducted teacher workshops throughout the United States.

 

Secondary School Mathematics Teacher 1986


Vuvulane High School, Swaziland

  • For full academic year, prepared syllabi, conducted daily lessons with four classes, levels ranging from arithmetic to advanced algebra and trigonometry.

 

English Language Teacher & School Administrator 1980 – 1981


United Nations–Administered Refugee Camps, Thailand

  • Conducted classes in English for adults and high-school students.

  • Developed comprehensive English language program for beginning students.

  • Founded and administered Montessori pre-school.

  • Analyzed, developed, administered numerous International Rescue Committee education projects.

 

EDUCATION

Oxford University, New College, Oxford, England 1982 – 1984


M.A. Honors, English

  • Rhodes Scholar

  • Honors thesis on fourteenth-century mystic poet Richard Rolle of Hampole

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 1976 – 1980


A.B., English

  • Graduated Magna cum laude

  • Studied writing under John McPhee, Stephen Koch

  • Won awards for senior thesis, a study of Vladimir Nabokov, as well as for short fiction

 

AWARDS

  • Honorable Mention, 2025 Plentitudes Prizes in Poetry for “Ad Astra,” 2025

  • International Merit Award, Atlanta Review International Poetry Contest, for “Circus,” 2023

  • Honorable Mention, 2022 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize (San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild) for “Thirteen (Alcova 1971),” 2023

  • Honorable Mention, 2021 Steve Kowit Poetry Prize (San Diego Entertainment & Arts Guild) for “Corona,” 2022

  • Winner, Sundog Poetry Center’s Vermont Book Award for Bags and Tools, 2021

  • First Place in “Traditional Rhyming Poetry” category for “Hungry”; Second Place in “Legacy Award” category for “Outside of Town”; Third Place in “Door of Dreams” category for “Dreaming of Socrates”; Arizona State Poetry Society Contest, 2021

  • Second Place, New Yorker cartoon caption contest (see 12/21/2020 issue)

  • Finalist, Sundog Poetry Center’s Vermont Book Award for Playing Along, 2020

  • Third Place in “Nature on the Edge” category for “In the Woods,” Arizona State Poetry Society Contest, 2019

  • Winner of Helen Schaible International Sonnet Contest, “Traditional–Shakespearean” category, for “Foxholes,” 2019

  • Winner of First Annual Putney Mountain Poetry Contest for “In the Woods,” 2018

  • “Laureate’s Choice” winner of Marie W. Faust Sonnet Contest for “In the Woods,” 2017

  • Sixfold Poetry Contest, Fourth Place for “For My Father,” Autumn 2016

  • Longlisted for Fish Poetry Prize for poem “The Soddy,” 2016

  • Narrative Winter Story Contest, finalist for essay “In America, They Cut Your Head Off: Among the Hmong,” 2016

  • International Publication Prize winner for poems “Rewilding the Golf Course” & “Nineteenth-Century Canvasses,” Atlanta Review, 2016

  • Shortlisted for Gregory O’Donoghue Prize for poem “Perfect,” 2016

  • Finalist, Southwest Review Morton Marr Poetry Prize, 2015

  • Top Winner of Marie W. Faust Sonnet Contest for “Editor,” 2015

  • Shortlisted for Gregory O’Donoghue Prize for poem “The Merry Dancers,” 2015

  • Sixfold Poetry Contest, Third Place for “Tributes,” Winter 2015

  • Distinguished Lecturer Award, University of San Francisco, 1998

  • Rhodes Scholarship, 1982

  • Phi Beta Kappa, 1980

  • Presidential Scholar, 1976

  • National Merit Scholarship, 1976

  • Writing Fellowships: Vermont Studio Center, 2013; Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 2004, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998; Ucross Foundation, 1999; Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, 1998; Ragdale Foundation, 1998, 1997

 

WRITING

Poetry and Fiction

  • Bags and Tools (poems), Green Writers Press, 2022

  • The Del Ray Method (novel in progress)

  • Many poems, essays, short stories, and other writings; numerous public readings

  • Twice had stories featured on public radio program, Fiction in Shorts

Nonfiction

  • My Commute: Living in the American West (book in progress)

  • Numerous essays about writing and the teaching of writing

  • Essays and speeches about death and dying

Publications

  • “At the Library” & “Trail Magic” (poems), broadsides produced by Write Action’s “Poems Around Town” project, Brattleboro, Vermont 2025

  • “The Connecticut” (poem), PoemCity Anthology 2024 (Montpelier, VT: Rootstock Publishing, 2024)

  • “An Encounter” (poem), Crosswinds Poetry Journal X, 2024

  • “Tricycle in the Woods” & “The Institute Woods” (poems), broadsides produced by Write Action’s “Poems Around Town” project, Brattleboro, Vermont 2024

  • “The Connecticut” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2024

  • “Hot Cherry Pie” (poem), San Diego Poetry Annual: Greetings from Tent City, 2023–24

  • “In,” “A Gentle Nudge,” “Pulse” (poems), Sixfold, Summer 2023

  • “An Encounter” & “The Connecticut” (poems), broadsides produced by Write Action’s “Poems Around Town” project, Brattleboro, Vermont 2023

  • “An Encounter” (poem), Crosswinds Poetry Journal IX, 2023

  • “An Encounter” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2023

  • “Outside of Town” (poem), Crosswinds Poetry Journal VIII, 2022

  • “Corona” (poem), San Diego Poetry Annual, 2022

  • “December Twilight” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2022

  • “Dreaming of Socrates,” “Outside of Town,” “Hungry” (poems), Sandcutters 2021 (Arizona State Poetry Society anthology), 2021

  • “In the Beginning,” “Getting Cold” (poems), Poems in the Time of Covid (anthology of Write Action’s “Poems Around Town” project, Brattleboro), 2021

  • “The Soddy” (poem), Crosswinds Poetry Journal VI, 2021

  • Print Town: Brattleboro’s Legacy of Words, Brattleboro Words Project & Vermont Historical Society, 2020

  • “Editor” (poem), Poems from the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest, 2015–2019, ed. Ted Haaland (2020)

  • “Words Fail,” “Raspberries,” “This Evening” (poems), broadsides produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2020

  • “In the Woods” (poem), Sandcutters 2019 (Arizona State Poetry Society anthology), 2019

  • “Harbor Pilot” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2019

  • “He’ll Be Remembered” (poem), in The Full Vermonty: Vermont in the Age of Trump, 2nd ed., ed. B. Mares & J. Danziger (Green Writers Press, 2019, in press)

  • “In the Woods” & “Living with Cold” (poems), broadsides produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2018

  • “Home” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2017

  • For My Father: “The Signalman’s Story,” “Alcova 1971,” “The Brace,” “Patience” (poems), Sixfold, Winter 2016

  • “Rewilding the Golf Course” & “Nineteenth-Century Canvasses” (poems), Atlanta Review 23:1, 2016

  • “Apprentice” (poem), Southern Poetry Review 54:2, 2016

  • “Hardware” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2016

  • “Perfect” (poem), Southword, April/May 2016

  • “Play Me the Blues” (poem), Helen, October 2015

  • The Camp: “Desire,” “Khao-I-Dang,” “Lunch,” “The Voice of America,” “Meeting Mrs. Ping” (poems), Sixfold, Winter 2015

  • “Casino” (poem), Helen, May 2015

  • “The Merry Dancers” (poem), Southword, April 2015

  • “Contact” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2015

  • Tributes: “On the Bus,” “Paging Doctor Bebop,” “Mr. McPhee’s Class,” “Attending,” “The Audacity of the Jaguar” (poems), Sixfold, Winter 2014

  • To a Fighter: “Invocations,” “From Dartmouth-Hitchcock,” “Chemo,” “Picture This,” “The Champ” (poems), Sixfold, Summer 2014

  • “Midwinter Rain” & “Of Making Books” (poems), broadsides produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2014

  • “Reptiles,” “Of Making Books,” “The Importance of Vowels,” “Traffic Stop,” “Hot Cherry Pie” (poems), Sixfold, Winter 2013

  • “Waiting in Line at the Liquor Store,” “Centralia,” “Grief,” “Saint David’s Head,” “Jubilee Blues” (poems), Sixfold, Summer 2013

  • “Play Me the Blues” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2013

  • “Astrology” (poem), broadside produced by PoemCity project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2012

  • “Math Teacher” (poem), The Salon, Autumn 2011

  • “Carolyn’s Table” (poem), broadside produced by Poetry Alive! project, Montpelier, Vermont, April 2011

  • “His Tools” (poem), in Great American Catholic Eulogies, ed. Carol DeChant (Acta Publications, 2011)

  • “Asian singers bringing their unique style to S.F.” (preview of concert by Tuvan singers at the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco), Contra Costa Times, 1993.

  • “Oasis” (review of “Oasis,” an exhibition of paintings by California landscape artists at the Oakland Museum), Contra Costa Times, 1993.

  • “America through Foreign Eyes” (op-ed piece), Casper (Wyoming) Star-Tribune, 1988

Website

 

e-mail to Mike Fleming