PIPER GOURLEY
WRITER
ABOUT
PIPER GOURLEY is a writer from Houston, Texas, currently residing in Southern California. They received their MFA in Creative Writing from Chapman University with a focus on memoir, and their undergraduate degree in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. They are the EIC of The Institutionalized Review, a literary magazine working to empower those silenced by institutionalization/hospitalization.They are motivated, creative, passionate, and dedicated to telling engaging stories. In all of their writing, they commit to detailed research, a strong voice, and prose that shimmers on the page.They are passionate about both fiction and nonfiction writing, though memoir (hybrid and lyric essays) is their primary focus. They seek to write stories that are portals and mirrors, that open readers to the multitudes within them. Their bylined work is published and forthcoming in The Rumpus, Joyland, Hayden's Ferry Review, Passages North, Michigan Quarterly Review: Mixtape, Glassworks, Lindenwood Review, Punt Volat, Etched Onyx, Interlochen Review, and elsewhere. They received the University of Houston's Provost Prize for Creative Writing in 2021. They are a two-time recipient of the Bryan Lawrence Award for Nonfiction (2020 and 2021). They were also a finalist for the J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction (2021).In their spare time, you can find Piper longboarding or surfskating, taking care of their jungle of plants, writing music, and chasing the ocean.
PUBLICATIONS & AWARDS
NONFICTION
"Treatment as a Noun," The Rumpus, Fall 2022. Retrieved from:
https://therumpus.net/2022/09/15/treatment-as-noun/
“Ziggy Stardust is in the Walls,” Michigan Quarterly
Review: Mixtape, 2020. Retrieved from:
https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mixtape/2020/06/17/piper-gourley/
“Pills,” TIMBER Journal, Summer 2021. Retrieved from:
https://timberjournal.org/archive/pills
“Why I Can’t Love You Right,” Lindenwood Review, Spring 2022. Retrieved from:
https://digitalcommons.lindenwood.edu/lindenwood-review/vol1/iss12/7/
“Sink,” Quarterly West, Fall 2022. Retrieved from: https://www.quarterlywest.com/issue-107-gourley
“All The Bees in California are Dead,” X-R-A-Y, Fall 2022. Retrieved from: https://xraylitmag.com/all-the-bees-in-california-are-dead-by-piper-gourley/cnf/
"Come Out as Gold," Passages North, Upcoming.
"On Loving Horror Movies Post-Institutionalization," Hayden's Ferry Review, Issue 73 (Print).FICTION
“Black Ribbons, Black Water, Black Sky,” Joyland Magazine. Retrieved from: https://joylandmagazine.com/fiction/black-ribbons-black-water-black-sky/
“Petra,” Glassworks Magazine, Spring 2021. Retrieved from:
https://issuu.com/glassworksmagazine/docs/issue22/69
“Nothing, Egg Whites, Nothing,” Onyx Publications, Summer 2021. Retrieved from:
https://onyxpublications.com/nothing-egg-whites-nothing/
“And All the Children,” Punt Volat, Winter 2022. Retrieved from: https://puntvolatlit.com/and-all-the-children/POETRY
“Somewhere, Somewhere Underwater,” West Trade Review, Summer 2022. Retrieved
from: https://www.westtradereview.com/onlineexclusives2211.html
“To The Person I Will One Day Love,” Interlochen Review, 2017.
Retrieved from:
http://www.interlochenreview.org/to-the-person-i-will-one-day-love.
"I Dream of Lighthouses," Calliope Art & Literary Magazine, Spring 2024, Print.INTERVIEWS
“Nothing, Egg Whites, Nothing by Piper Gourley,” Story Discovery Podcast, 2021.
Retrieved from: https://storydiscovery.podbean.com/e/nothing-egg-whites-nothing-by-piper-gourley/
"Three Questions with Piper Gourley," Hayden's Ferry Review, 2024. Retrieved from: https://haydensferryreview.com/blog/3-questions-with-piper-gourleyAPPEARANCES
BackStory Poetry Reading at the Victory Theater
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwQQ3RPA2Wg&t=5sHONORS AND AWARDS
Fellowship and Full Scholarship for Chapman University M.F.A. in Creative Writing, 2021-2023
Winner, U.H. Provost Prize for Creative Writing, 2021
Bryan Lawrence Prize in Nonfiction, 2021
Finalist, Dappled Things J.F. Powers Prize for Short Fiction, 2021
Bryan Lawrence Prize in Nonfiction, 2020
Honorable Mention, U.H. Provost Prize for Creative Writing, 2020
Honorable Mention, Alexandra L. Rowan Memorial Foundation Writing Competition, 2020
National Gold Key in Poetry, Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, 2017
NUHA Foundation Essay Competition Semi-Finalist, 2017
Outsiders Film Festival Winner in Experimental Film, 2017
Winner, NOTE Theater Poetry Slam, 2022
EXPERIENCE
PUBLISHING EXPERIENCE
Administrative and Events Coordinator at Red Hen Press (2023-Present) -
Working at one of the largest independent publishers on the West Coast, including supporting literary and fundraising events, participating in the editorial process, generating ideas for social media and marketing (specifically TikTok), and engaging with our authors in their marketing pursuitsWRITING EXPERIENCE
Zenpost - Writer/Content Creator (2018-Present): Ghostwriting a variety of professional blog posts, SEO and SaaS content, including articles about travel, SEO, keywords, tech, and writing practices.
Presto Media Production Company - Writer/Content Creator (2017-2022): Ghostwriting and curating a variety of articles, including news articles, creative pieces, lifestyle articles, history biopics, and listicles. Over 700 publications to date on Ask.com, Living101, History101, Yahoo! lifestyle/business, Thought Catalog, The Mighty, and more.
Rowan Foundation Intern Fellowship (June 2020-September 2020): Designed, researched, wrote, and curated a blog series for the website for Jenny Lawson’s Nowhere Bookshop in San Antonio.EDITING AND WORKSHOP EXPERIENCE
The Institutionalized Review - Founder and Editor in Chief (October 2021-Ongoing): A virtual literary magazine for writers/creatives who have undergone institutionalization, psychiatric hospitalization, incarceration, or other modes of confinement. Released first issue in Spring of 2022.
U.H. Undergraduate Glass Mountain Literary Magazine - Prose Editor (January 2018-2021): Worked as an assistant prose editor reading and critiquing pieces from a wide variety of fiction and nonfiction writers across the globe, as well as helping curate the final prose selections for the physical magazine twice a year.
North East School of the Arts Literary Magazine - Senior Editor (2017): Worked on the senior editing staff of North East School of the Arts’ literary magazine ATLAS: HERIETH as an editor of senior pieces, as well as playing an active role in the magazine curation. ATLAS went on to win the Highest Award by the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Program to Recognize Excellence in Student Literary Magazines.
Contact
If you would like to contact Piper about their writing, you can do so at the following email: