Bhagat, Brook

Author Brook Bhagat
Birth City
Colorado Springs
Birth State
CO
Current Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Author's Website
https://brook-bhagat.com/
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
Poetry
Short Stories
Search WorldCat for works by Brook Bhagat
Published Works
Note: Poetry, fiction, and nonfiction published before 2000 not included
“Cripple Creek Strikes it Rich in History, Scenery and Summer Fun” (with Gaurav…
“The Psychedelic Waves of Goa” (with Gaurav Bhagat, creative nonfiction in Blue…
“Love: The Eternal Home” (creative nonfiction in Creations Magazine, 2002)
“Love: The Eternal Home” (creative nonfiction in Moondance Magazine, 2002)
“Why India?” (creative nonfiction in Creations Magazine, 2002)
“The Longest Term of Care” (creative nonfiction in Long Term Care Interface, 20…
“Dancing with Hilda” (creative nonfiction in Long Term Care Interface, 2004)
“Savta” (creative nonfiction in Long Term Care Interface, 2006)
“Spoken Without Words” (creative nonfiction in Long Term Care Interface, 2006)
“What Is ‘Indian’ Supposed to Mean?” (creative nonfiction in Little India Magaz…
“Such a Cat” (poem in US Represented, July 2014)
“I Want to Climb Behind Your Eyes” (poem in US Represented, Nov. 2015)
“Craigslist” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Feb. 2016)
“Nightshirt” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Feb. 2016)
“Public Poems Built on Public Property” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Apr. 201…
“Woke Up This Morning” (poem in Syzygy Poetry Journal, Apr. 2016)
“Christmas Candle (Done with You)” (poem in Nowhere Poetry and Flash Fiction, M…
“Wavestar Bang” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Jun. 2016)
“I Stole a Baby” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Nov. 2016)
“Only Flying” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Nov. 2016)
“The Left Eye is Enough” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Feb.2017)
“The Edge of The Woods” (flash fiction in Peacock Journal, Apr. 2017)
“Pocket Hollow” (poem in Rat’s Ass Review, Summer 2017)
“Christmas Candle (Done with You)” (poem in Quail Bell Magazine, Mar. 2017)
“Woke Up This Morning” (poem in Quail Bell Magazine, Mar. 2017)
“Bella is Suzanne” (poem in Anthem: A Tribute to Leonard Cohen, Mar. 2017)
“The West Wing” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Apr. 2017)
“Sailcloth” (poem in Peacock Journal, Apr. 2017)
“The Star and the Crop” (poem in Peacock Journal, Apr. 2017)
“There Is a Mother Waiting for You, a Kangaroo” (poem in Peacock Journal, Apr. …
“I Have Been Lying Since the Beginning” (poem in Damfino Press, June 2017)
“The Widow’s Cat” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Nov. 2017)
“I Found a Pair of Hands Digging in the Garden” (poem in Empty Mirror Magazine,…
“I Get Found, 1974” (poem in Empty Mirror Magazine, Jan. 2018)
"There Is a Mother Waiting for You, a Kangaroo" (poem in Peacock Journal Anthol…
"The Way the World Ends" (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Apr. 2018)
"The Golden Thread Part One" (poem in A Story in 100 Words, June 2018)
"The Golden Thread Part Two" (poem in A Story in 100 Words, July 2018)
"Letter to an Unborn Daughter (Fist Girl)" (poem in The Almagre Review, Aug. 20…
“Jump (Magic Pants)” (flash fiction in MoonPark Review, Sep. 2018)
"The Goblin King Slips an Empty Sting" (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Nov. 2018)
"Downwelling" (poem in Harbinger Asylum, Dec. 2018)
"She Comes in on a Peahen" (poem in Harbinger Asylum, Dec. 2018)
"Good Dream Bad Dream" (poem in author Beth Boldman's article about micropoem, …
“The Same Woman (Scarlight)” (flash fiction in Monkeybicycle, Feb. 2019)
“Once Upon a Time I Died” (flash fiction in Lotus-Eater Magazine Issue #10, Spr…
Excerpt from “The Goddess Becomes" (poem in A Story in 100 Words, July 2019)
"The Homes of Birds" (in A Walk with Nature Anthology, University Professors Pr…
"The Lady Scarecrow" (poem in Lamplit Underground Magazine: Sanguine Moon, Vol…
"My Nothing Burned Down to the Center of the Earth" (poem in Lamplit Undergroun…
“The Sunflower” (poem in in A Story in 100 Words, Dec. 2019)
“The Homes of Birds” (video of author reading poem on A View from This Wilderne…
“The Homes of Birds” (nature writing contest winner, poem in A Story in 100 Wor…
“The Sunflower” (poem in Flash Flood Journal, June 2020)
“Inkling of Jackals” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Aug. 2020)
“The Last Bath” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Jan. 2021)
“Finding Deepstaria” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Jan. 2021)
“The Courier” (poem in Prometheus Dreaming, June 2021)
“Cracking Collarbone Jones” (creative nonfiction in Soundings East, June 2021)
“Be the Poet,” (flash fiction, summer microfiction contest winner, Loud Coffee …
“Ember Opens the Door” (poem in Aromatica Poetica, Oct. 2021)
“The Moment in My Pocket” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Nov. 2021)
Only Flying (full-length poetry and flash fiction collection, Unsolicited Press…
“Sebastian’s Real Friend” (flash fiction in Loud Coffee Press, Jan. 2022)
“When the Pen Is Still” (haiku contest runner-up, Loud Coffee Press, Jan. 2022)
“June in Winter” (flash fiction in Big City Lit, Feb. 2022)
“Exodus with Red Delicious” (poem in The Dribble Drabble Review, Apr. 2022)
“Exodus with Red Delicious” (poem in The Dribble Drabble Review I-V anthology, …
“It Takes More Sparrows” (poem in Lamplit Underground Magazine: Burial at Sea, …
“Just a Story” (creative nonfiction in Lamplit Underground Magazine: Burial at …
“August Drops” (poem in A Story in 100 Words, Sep. 2022)
“Chaplin” (featured poet, The Dribble Drabble Review, Oct. 2022)
“Soft Fracture” (featured poet, The Dribble Drabble Review, Oct. 2022)
“The Sky of the Sky” (featured poet, The Dribble Drabble Review, Oct. 2022)
“We Are Apricot Trees” (featured poet, The Dribble Drabble Review, Oct. 2022)
“The Torch” (poem in The Pine Cone Review: Glissade, Nov. 2022)
“Nightfall” (poem in Rat’s Ass Review, Spring Summer 2023)
“Blueshift” (poem in A Season for Romance: Summer Simmer, forthcoming May 2023)
“Immaculate” (poem in A Season for Romance: Summer Simmer, forthcoming May 2023)
“The Kelpie’s Shadow” (poem in Merfolk Anthology, forthcoming Dec. 2023)
“Mergirl in Morning” (poem in Merfolk Anthology, forthcoming Dec. 2023)
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