Storytelling
through poetry
Nicole Jean “Nic” Turner is an artist from New England with an affinity for vignettes, napping outdoors, and conversations that confront the human condition. They write in cursive to hide the butchered spelling that would otherwise raise suspicion about their master’s degree in writing. Nic is fascinated by romance, conspiracy, and the avant-garde.
Nic’s distinctively accessible verse is influenced by minimalist literary fiction writers such as Amy Hempel and American poets Billy Collins, Patrick Lawler, and Ada Limón. With every poem, Nic intends to tell a story about the people in their life. If you look closely, you too might find yourself between the lines.
The story goes something like
Nic started writing in adolescence, and now owes a kidney or an equivalent limb to student loan servicers for the degrees they earned studying the craft. In a post-masters non traditional residency, from 2017 to 2020, Nic regularly met with a small group of writers in Portland, OR, to practice minimalist transgressive storytelling with one of the genre’s best known authors. A reinvention of Tom Spanbauer’s ‘Dangerous Writing’ group, initially known as the ‘Writing Wrong’ class at The Attic Institute of Arts and Letters on Hawthorne, Chuck Palahniuk hand-picked the enrollment. It later expanded into ‘The Lie Factory’ at the Corporeal Writing Center, and these days, it has taken on a new form with hours open to the public. Learn about Chuck’s Study Hall here. Nic highly recommends attending if you are local to the PNW or ever passing through.
Nic has since authored a book of poetry inspired by those years traveling to, from, and around the Pacific North West, and now lives in New England. In the snowy northeastern region, they have led their own minimalist writing workshops to echo the legacy of the nights on Hawthorne.
Nic has published over 45 individual works of poetry and fiction with over two dozen presses since 2012. Nic’s books, With Only Which She Could Carry: a poetry collection (UWA, 2020), the limited-print reader-funded chapbook, Coffee Stout and Rain Water (GFM, 2017), and a special Kindle chapbook Snails & Elephants (2020) which reached Amazon’s top ten poetry books, have sold worldwide.
Nic has read for Burnt Tongue, The Dirty Gerund, Wordlights, Shady Pines Radio, Voicemail Poetry, Witch City Slam, Mic The Poet’s Open House, the No More domestic violence campaign, and Top Floor. Their words have also been shared on stage with Nova PDX, Comedy vs. Tragedy, The Underground Poetry Spot, Slamlandia, Wits End Poetry, and more. Nic has also guest-lectured on the subject of writing at the Western Connecticut State University MFA Summer Residency, Regis College, and Lesley University.
Outside of writing, Nic is the trusted local ‘IT guy’ everyone they know calls for help. They’re also a DIY hobbyist, proud plant parent, aerial yogi, avid board game collector, and an active member of multiple nonprofit organizations that support writers and wildlife.
“Nicole Jean Turner’s ability to instantly drop you into a place, person, or mood is deftly cultivated. An impeccable literary contribution and a rising talent to keep our eyes on.”
– Jason Arias, author of Momentary Illumination of Objects
NJT Poetry | Journal 