Expertise
Creative Nonfiction, Literary Journalism
Research Interests
- Creative Writing; Literary Journalism; Memoir; Essay.
- Creative nonfiction and personal narratives (memoir, essay, witness narratives, ethnography, the lyric essay), literary journalism, and cultural criticism writing.
Education
- Other: Creative Writing, (2000), Ohio State University - Columbus Ohio
- Supporting Area: Creative Nonfiction
- Dissertation/Thesis Title: Common Hours: Essays and Memoirs
- BA: Communications, (1983), University of Massachusetts, Amherst - Amherst, Mass.
Biosketch
Maureen Stanton is the author of "The Murmur of Everything Moving: A Memoir" (CSU Press, 2025), winner of the Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence and the May Sarton Award in memoir; "Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019), winner of the Maine Literary Award for memoir, and "Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: An Insider’s Look at the World of Flea Markets, Antiques, and Collecting" (Penguin, 2012), winner of a Massachusetts Book Award in nonfiction. Her essays and creative nonfiction have been widely published in literary journals and anthologies, including in "The New York Times," "Fourth Genre," "Creative Nonfiction," "New England Review," "Florida Review," "River Teeth," "Sport Literate," "Crab Orchard Review," "The Sun" and many others. She’s received an "Iowa Review" prize, "The Sewanee Review" prize, Pushcart Prizes, the "American Literary Review" nonfiction award, the Thomas J. Hruska award in nonfiction from "Passages North", the Penelope Niven Nonfiction Award from Salem College Center for Women Writers, a Mary Roberts Rinehart Award, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Maine Arts Commission, the MacDowell Colony and the Virginia Center for Creative Arts.
Selected Awards and Honors
- May Sarton Gold Award in memoir 2026, "The Murmur of Everything Moving."
- Donald L. Jordan Prize for Literary Excellence, Columbus State University
- Notable Essay, The Best American Essays 2025, “The Birds”
- Notable Essay, The Best American Essays 2023, "Evanescence."
- Winner, Sewanee Review nonfiction contest, 2023
- Maine Literary Award (2020) - Maine Writers and Publisher's Alliance
- Massachusetts Book Award (2012) - Massachusetts Center for the Book
- American Literary Review Nonfiction Prize (2007) - American Literary Review
- Thomas J. Hruska Memorial Nonfiction Prize (2007) - The Thomas J. Hruska Memorial
- Pushcart Prize, 2007 Pushcart Prize XXXI
- Iowa Award in Literary Nonfiction (2004) - Iowa Review
- Salem College Center for Women Writers Penelope Niven Award (2003) - Salem College Center for Women Writers
- Mary Roberts Rinehart Fund Award for Creative Nonfiction (2002) - Mary Roberts Rinehart Fund
Selected Publications
- Stanton, M. (2025) The Murmur of Everything Moving: A Memoir. DLJ Books at Columbus State University Press
- Stanton, M. (2019). Body Leaping Backward: Memoir of a Delinquent Girlhood. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Stanton, M. (2012). Killer Stuff and Tons of Money: An Insider's Look at the World of Flea Markets, Antiques and Collecting. The Penguin Press
- Stanton, M. (2010). The Hours: In Pursuit of Sleep. River Teeth,12(1) 25.
- Stanton, M. (2008). Good Guys. River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative,10(1-2) 389.
- Stanton, M. (2008). Let Us Eat Cake. American Literary Review,19(2) 18.
- Stanton, M. (2008). Miss Somebody. Passages North,29(1) 11.
- Stanton, M. (2008). Roadshow Rage: Behind the Scenes at PBS's Most Popular Show. Florida Review,33(2) 113.
Selected Presentations
- St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA. February 23, 2026, Via Zoom. Reading and visit with M.F.A. class.
- Chataqua Writer’s Conference at Ocean Park, Maine, August 5, 2025. Layers of Self in Memoir Writing lecture and workshop.
- St. Mary's College of Maryland, November 9, 2023. Guest Writer, Using Research in Creative Nonfiction
- Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, May 13, 2023. "Negotiating the Double I/Eye in Memoir"
- Reading, Tewksbury Library, May 2013 - Tewksbury, MA
- Langley-Adams Library, Reading, April 2013 - Groveland, MA
- Lecture on Memoir, Chelmsford Library, April 2013 - Chelmsford, MA
- Bailey Public Library, Reading, March 2013 - Winthrop, ME
- Dracut Public Library, Reading, March 2013 - Dracut, MA
- Rhode Island College, Reading and Guest Lecture, March 2013 - Providence, RI
- Voices Reading Series, Reading, January 2013 - St. Mary's College of Maryland
- Undergraduate Creative Writing Class - Killer Stuff and Tons of Money; material culture and creative writing - Guest Lecture, October 2012 - Boston, MA
- Nashua Public Library, Reading, October 2012 - Nashua, NH
- Reading Public Library, Reading, October 2012 - Reading, MA
- Georgetown Historical Society, Reading, July 2012 - Georgetown, ME
- Main Street Books, Reading, May 2012 - St. Charles MO
- Panel discussion and reading. Tribute to "Fourth Genre", March 2012 - Chicago, IL
- St. Louis Musem of Art, Reading, February 2012 - St. Louis, MO
- Eastern Illinois University Lions in Winter Series, Reading, January 2012 - Charleston,IL
- Philbrook Museum of Art, Reading, January 2012 - Tulsa, OK
- Fortnightly Club, Reading, October 2011 - Columbia, MO
- Left Bank Books, Reading, September 2011 - St. Louis, MO
- Longfellow Books, Reading, June 2011 - Portland, ME
- "River Teeth" Tenth Anniversary Reading - Nonfiction Now Conferenceing, November 2010 - Iowa City, IA
- Voices Reading Series, St. Mary's College, May 2009 - St. Mary's City, MD
- M.F.A. Workshop in Literary Journalism M.F.A. Workshop in Creative Nonfiction - Guest Lecture, 2007 - Washington, D.C.
- Maine Arts Commission, October 2004 - Bangor, ME
- Voices Reading Series, September 2004 - St. Mary's City, Maryland
- Guest Lecture, February 2004 - St. Mary's City, Maryland
- Voices Reading Series, February 2004 - St. Mary's City, Maryland
- Awards Ceremony, September 2003 - Winston-Salem, NC
- Epilog Reading Series, May 2000 - Columbus, OH
- Barnes & Noble, April 2000 - Northville, MI
- Creative Reading Series, April 1999 - Colombus, OH
- Mother Tongue, 1998 - Columbus, OH
- Stonecoast Writerês Conference, July 1997 - Freeport, Maine
Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research
- Literature Fellowship (2006), Fellowship - National Endowment for the Arts
- Individual Artist Fellowship (2001 and 2004), Fellowship - Maine Arts Commission
- Goldfarb Family Fellowship (2004), Fellowship - Virginia Center for the Creative Arts
- Vogelstein Foundation Grant (2002), Grant - Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation
- Grant for Individual Artists (2002), Grant - Change, Inc.
- Money for Women grant (2001), Grant - Barbara Deming Memorial Fund
- Grants for Writers in Residence (2001), Grant - MacDowell Colony