Hi! My name is Jake Friedman (he/him). I'm a graduate student in the Department of English pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing for Poetry here at Colorado State University.

Prior to that, I lived and worked in Phoenix, Arizona for 11 years where I was relatively active in creative writing and the literary arts--founding and directing a small press called Four Chambers, working in a variety of administrative positions at the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at Arizona State University, moderating a drop-in weekly workshop with the Central Phoenix Writing Workshop, so on and so forth. I also had a brief stint as the Community Programs Manager for the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture. I also did / continue to do a variety of nonprofit-type professional development and community service, including serving on board for the Northern Arizona Book Festival and Tolsun Books, reading grants for the National Endowment for the Arts and the NEA Big Read, and other such sundry things. Now, I'm co-chairing the Talent Committee for the Fort Collins Book Festival.

As a writer, I've received a few small honors and publications--a Galway Kinnell Memorial Scholarship to attend the Community of Writers in 2021, a semi-finalist for the 92Y Discovery Contest in 2022, and a College and University Prize from the Academy of American Poets for "The Colorado River (A to Z)" in 2023. I also tend to work in what's referred to as a documentary mode, meaning that I rely heavily on research and draw language from other texts. Most of my work tends to revolve around United States westward expansion in the mid 19th century, of which I am exceedingly critical, and the history and politics of the country more generally speaking, though I'm also interested in the Colorado River, the Anthropocene, and other such things.

As a person, I live with my partner, four to five other people, two dogs, and two cats in Fort Collins, Colorado.