Willi Carlisle
"An Ozark reniassance folklorist" -Sing Out!
Willi Carlisle has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Arkansas and a BA in Writing and Performance Studies from Knox College. With a vast array of performative, academic, and teaching experiences, he approaches folklore and theatre-arts with an interdisciplinary bent, especially in his "all-ages" programming. He calls square dances, plays fiddle, banjo, squeezebox, and guitar, presents and publishes folklore, and occasionally makes moving panoramas (or "crankies" as they are sometimes known). A full resume, writing sample, and additional performance videos are available upon request.
Selected Publications and Performances
Walton Poetry Prize, 2012
Presenter, "Ecopoetics & Southern Tradition," Arkansas Philological Association, 2013
Assistant, Mary Parler Project Gallery, Fayetteville Public Library, 2014
Featured Performer, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 2014
Presenter, "Ozark Folk Music: A Listening Party" 2014
Featured Performer, Special Collections Folksongs, University of Arkansas, 2015
Curator, "Tim West: A Retrospective", The Underground, 2015
Curator, "In the Ozarks: A Folk Art and Music Revival" Emergent Arts, 2016
Co-Writer & Monologuist, "History Comes Alive: Evergreen Cemetery," 2016
Featured Performer, Cane Hill Harvest Festival, 2016
Featured Performer, Fayetteville Roots Festival, 2016/2017
Featured Performer, Ozark Folk Center, 2017
Writer, "The Politics of Transferrence in Traditional Fiddling," Missouri Folklore 2017
Music Reviewer, "No More Good Time in the World," Journal of American Folklore, 2017
"Best Show," Orlando Fringe Festival
Presenter, "Folklore as Theatrical Practice," Portfringe Theatre Festival, 2017
"Excellence in Writing," Portfringe Theatre Festival
Featured Performer, Faulkner County Library, 2017
Teacher, "I'll Fly Away Foundation," 2017
Queerness in the Oldtime Tradition, Panel at Baltimore Oldtime Music Festival, 2022
Arkansas Traveller, Black Deer Fest, Kent, UK 2022
Curator, "Ozark Folk Music," Freshgrass Festival, 2022
Fieldwork and Curation Gallery
