Rosemarie Dombrowski

Rosemarie Dombrowski is a Teaching Professor at Arizona State University's School of Applied Sciences and Arts and an Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix. She serves as the inaugural Poet Laureate of Phoenix and is the founding director of Revisionary Arts, a poetic medicine nonprofit. Her work spans academia, healthcare, and community arts, focusing on medical humanism, war poetry, and radical print culture.

Dombrowski holds a Ph.D. in English (American Literature) from Arizona State University (2007), along with dual B.A. degrees in English and Anthropology from ASU (1996). She also participated in the African Studies Program at the University of Ghana at Legon (summer 1996) and attended the University of Iowa International Writing Program (summers 2014 and 2016).

• Ph.D. English (American Literature), Arizona State University, 2007
• B.A. English, Arizona State University, 1996
• B.A. Anthropology, Arizona State University, 1996
• African Studies Program, University of Ghana at Legon, summer 1996
• University of Iowa International Writing Program, summer 2014 and 2016

Dombrowski's research centers on medical humanities, particularly poetic medicine as a therapeutic tool in clinical and community settings. She explores war poetry, women's literature, and radical print culture, including suffrage journals and zines. Her work emphasizes community healing through poetry for vulnerable populations such as veterans, dementia patients, and the formerly incarcerated.

Her poetry collections, including the forthcoming Emily’s Advice to Girls in the New Millenium (2025), address themes of disability, autism, and social justice. Dombrowski's work often intersects medicine and trauma, as seen in The Book of Emergencies, and explores American landscapes and history in The Cleavage Planes of Southwest Minerals. Her writing consistently advocates for marginalized voices.

Dombrowski has received numerous accolades, including the Arizona Humanities Outstanding Speaker of the Year (2022) and the Arizona Capital Times Leader of the Year award (2023). She is a Poet Laureate Fellow from the Academy of American Poets (2020) and has won multiple literary awards for her poetry collections.

• Poet Laureate Fellow, Academy of American Poets (2020)
• Outstanding Speaker of the Year, Arizona Humanities (2022)
• Leader of the Year, Arizona Capital Times (Arts & Culture) (2023)
• Winner, Split Rock Review Chapbook Contest (2017)
• Winner, Human Relations Indie Book Award for Poetry (2016)

Dombrowski mentors students through honors theses and directed studies at ASU. Her grant-funded projects include the Phoenix Poetry Gardens (Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics) and Write On, Downtown (Women & Philanthropy grant). She has secured funding for community arts initiatives that bridge poetry with social justice and healthcare.

• Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics Fellowship: The Phoenix Poetry Gardens (2017)
• Women & Philanthropy grant: Write On, Downtown (2009)
• Academic Excellence in Diversity Grant: We Are Downtown (2014)

As founder of Revisionary Arts and rinky dink press, Dombrowski leads teams that produce medical poetry journals (Grey Matter, ISSUED) and community projects like the Phoenix Community Poetry Gardens. Her work with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and Arizona Humanities fosters literary engagement across Phoenix.