Awards, Nominations, and Scholarships:
2021 Donald Justice Poetry Prize.
Best Book of 2022, Poetry by the Sea Book Award.
Best American Poetry 2022 selection for poem “Hair Sestina,” originally published in Northwest Review.
Out of Order nominated for post-publication prizes including the L.A. Times Book Prize.
2019 Sewanee Writers’ Conference MFA Scholarship recipient.
Best of the Net 2025 anthology nomination for poem, “All I’ve Ever Wanted is to Write,” originally published in American Literary Review.
2024 Best Spiritual Literature nomination for poem “After My Mother’s Cancer Returns, I Start Praying Every Night,” originally published in American Literary Review.
2020 Pushcart Prize nomination for poem “Intimacy,” originally published in Cimarron Review.
2018 Glass Chapbook Series Finalist Long List for poetry chapbook Children of the Streets.
Panels, Classes, and Speaker Events:
Master Class Instructor, 92nd Street Y (forthcoming). The four-week writing workshop, titled Intermediate Poetry with Alexis Sears, consists of writing poems in response to unusual prompts, workshopping classmates’ poems, reading contemporary poetry, and discussion and analysis. March 2025.
Master Class Instructor, Hudson Valley Writers Center. The master class, entitled “Poets Just Want to Have Fun: When Poetry Incorporates Pop Culture,” focused on analyzing poems throughout history that reference or discuss pop culture. July 2024.
Faculty Member, Poetry by the Sea Conference 2024. Taught a workshop about confessional poetry, gave a faculty reading, partook in a roundtable discussion, and chaired two panels: “Is There a Plot in This Poem?” and “Moving Images: Where Poetry Meets the Screen.” May 2024.
Presenter and Reader, SMU Symposium on Poetic Form. Panel was entitled “Sonnots.” Gave presentation on sonnets and their relationship to race, identity, and belonging. March 2024.
AWP Panelist, “Heroic Crowns: On the Values of Difficulty and Dazzle.” February 2024.
Master Class Instructor, Hudson Valley Writers Center. The master class, entitled “Making Order From Chaos: Turning Our Wild Lives Into Organized Received Forms” focused on the relationship between formal and confessional poetry. January 2024.
Visiting Writer, Indiana University East. Gave a craft lecture and a reading. Lecture was entitled “You Are Hysterical: When Comedy Meets Sadness In Art.” October 2023.
Visiting Writer, Long Beach City College. One of two writers selected (one per semester) to give a reading and partake in a Q+A at Long Beach City College. October 2023.
Keynote Speaker, “The Dramatic I/Eye: Reflections on Voice and Form in Contemporary Poetry.” West Chester Poetry Center, November 2022.
Reader and Panelist, Best American Poetry 2022. Southern California Poetry Festival. November 2022.
Panelist, West Chester Poetry Conference: “A Talisman Against Disintegration: Tradition and Experiment in Recent American Sonnets.” November 2022.
Alumni Speaker, Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars Alumni Reading. April 2022.
Master Class Instructor, West Chester Poetry Conference, “Transformations: Evolving Approaches to Teaching, Poetry, and the Natural World.” The class was entitled “What the Hell is a Villanelle?” November 2021.
Did readings for and taught formal poetry to university-level classes (or will do so in the future) at Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Vanderbilt University (forthcoming), Salem State University, Southern Methodist University, Southern Illinois University (forthcoming), Marshall University, Western Colorado University, Community College of Rhode Island, and elsewhere.
Interviews and Podcast and Video Appearances:
How Racist Is Creative Writing?, ft. Alexis Sears & Joanna Pearson, Sleerickeets (Podcast), October 2024
The Sears & Pearson Dope Chill School for Wack Daughters, ft. Alexis & Joanna, Sleerickets (Podcast), April 2024.
Sassy Kids ft. Alexis Sears Pt 2, Sleerickets (Podcast), October 2023.
Sassy Kids ft. Alexis Sears, Sleerickets (Podcast), October 2023.
Shoutout LA: Meet Alexis Sears, Shoutout LA, August 2023.
Both Sides Eventually ft. Alexis Sears, Sleerickets (Podcast), May 2023.
Dog Wedding ft. Alexis Sears, Sleerickets (Podcast), May 2023.
An Interview with Alexis Sears, Pine Hills Review, January 2023.
Rattlecast, Rattle Poetry, July 2022.
My Amanda Gorman Thing ft. Alexis Sears, Sleerickets (Podcast), February 2022.
Miscellaneous Shout-outs and Praise:
My poem “On Turning 20” featured on Form in Formless Times. July 2024.
Out of Order recommended by poet John Belk in Poets and Writers, The Beauty of Being: Our Eighteenth Annual Look at Debut Poets. January/February 2023 issue.
My poem “For My Father: A Sonnet Redoublé” endorsed on Culture Gabfest- Slate Magazine (about 51 minutes in). June 2022.
My poem “Heartbreak Ghazal” featured on Poetry Across the Pee Dee: Poetry Sunday. June 2022.
Out of Order included on “A Reading List for Mental Health Awareness Month,” CLMP. May 2022.
My poem “September” praised and thoroughly discussed by US Poet Laureate Ada Limón on the Slowdown podcast. May 2022.
Recognized in Johns Hopkins University Arts & Sciences Magazine, Alumni to Watch. Spring 2021 issue.
Recognized in Creative Writing News, University of Wisconsin, MFAs and MFA Alums Getting Recognition.
Editing, Judging, and Other Community Service:
Literary Matters, Contributing Editor (2023- present)
Northwest Review, Editor-at-Large (2022- present)
Voyage of Verse, Esteemed Judge (2024)
Kansas Authors Club Literary Contest, Judge (2024)
Buckeye Foundation Poetry Showcase, Judge (2024)
Indiana University East Tributaries Creative Writing Prizes, Judge (2024)
Donald Justice Poetry Prize, Reader (2023, 2024)
Northwest Review Poetry Contest, Reader (2023)
Up North Lit, Poetry Editor (2020-2022)
Able Muse Write Prize for Poetry, Selection Committee Member (2019)
Brittingham and Felix Pollak Prizes in Poetry, Reader (2018, 2019)