Bhagat, Brook

Author Brook Bhagat
Birth City
Colorado Springs
Birth State
CO
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Occupation(s)
Writer | Professor of English and Creative Writing at Pikes Peak State College | Editor-in-chief, Blue Planet Journal
Biography

Brook Bhagat is the author of Only Flying, a Pushcart-nominated collection of surreal poetry and flash fiction on paradox, rebellion, transformation, and enlightenment from Unsolicited Press. Her work has won contests at Loud Coffee Press and A Story in 100 Words, and her poem, “The Homes of Birds,” first published in the anthology, A Walk with Nature, was a first-round winner in the 2022 Colorado Hearts and Minds Poetry Contest.

Brook’s poetry, prose, humor, and creative nonfiction have been published in Monkeybicycle, Empty Mirror, Soundings East, The Alien Buddha Goes Pop, Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, and other journals and anthologies. She and her husband Gaurav created Blue Planet Journal, which she edits and writes for. She holds an MFA from Lindenwood University and is an assistant professor of English and creative writing at Pikes Peak State College. Read her work and learn more about Only Flying here, check out the Nearby Universe here, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram @BrookBhagat.

Awards/Honors
First place: “The Homes of Birds,” A Story in 100 Words Summer Nature Writing Contest, 2020
Nomination: 2021 Pushcart Prize for “The Mammoth,” Unsolicited Press
Tied for first place: “Be the Poet,” Loud Coffee Press Summer Flash Fiction Contest, 2021
Honorable mention: “When the Pen Is Still,” Loud Coffee Press Haiku Contest, 2022
First-round winner: 2022 Colorado Hearts and Minds Poetry Contest for “The Homes of Birds”
Education/Training
MFA-Creative Writing, Lindenwood University
BA-English, Vassar College
Local Authors Genres
Organizations
Pikes Peak State College
Founder and facilitator of the Nearby Universe, the PPSC faculty and staff Creative Writers group
Speaker Availability
Yes
Speaker Topics
Speaker topics:
* Creative writing games in the classroom
* Bringing humor and warmth to the online classroom
* Two muses: conscious and mystical creative processes
* The nuts and bolts of getting published: how to submit to literary magazines and small presses
* Plotters vs. pantsers: planning steps for your novel
* Why and how to join or start a writers’ group

Workshops:
* Group poetry: The exquisite corpse and more
* BYOD: Using dreams in creative work
* Prose poetry or Microfiction? The 100-word story
* Magical Realism game and story/poem creation
* Creative Nonfiction game and story/poem creation
* Show Don’t Tell game and story/poem creation
* Writing your author bio
* Hit hard going cold/ get funny going hot on nonsense story/poem creation
* Ekphrastic poetry creation
* Fantasy and sci-fi worldbuilding