Naomi Cohn is a writer, artist, and teaching artist whose work explores reclamation. Her past includes a childhood among Chicago academics; involvement in a guerrilla feminist art collective; and work as an encyclopedia copy editor, community organizer, grant writer, fundraising consultant, and therapist.
Her book, The Braille Encyclopedia: Brief Essays on Altered Sight (Rose Metal Press, October 2024) examines vision loss and relearning to read and write as an adult. Her current work harnesses her obsession with birds, reclaiming relationships with art-making and the rest of the natural world.
Recent recognition includes a 2023 McKnight Artist Fellowship in Writing, and residencies at Monson Arts; Write On, Door County; and Bloedel Reserve. Naomi’s work has appeared in Baltimore Review, Fourth River, Hippocampus, Terrain, Nimrod, and Poetry, among other places.
She’s also appeared on NPR and been honored as a Best of the Net finalist and two-time Pushcart nominee. Her teaching and community work with older adults and other people living with disabilities has been supported by numerous grants, including a Knight Arts Challenge grant.
Naomi holds a BA in history, art, and biology from Cornell University and an MA in marriage and family therapy from Saint Mary’s University. Raised in Chicago, she now lives on unceded Dakota territory in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Selected Awards and Residencies
- Ucross Foundation Residency, Clearmont, WY, Srping 2025
- McKnight Artist Fellowship in Writing, 2023
- Monson Arts Residency, Monson, ME, April 2023
- Bloedel Reserve Creative Residency, Bainbridge Island, WA, Fall 2022
- Metropolitan Regional Arts Council Arts Impact Grant, October 2021
- Write On, Door County Writing Residency, Fish Creek, WI, 2019 and 2023
- Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant in Poetry, 2006, 2011, 2018
- John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, St. Paul Knight Arts Challenge Grant, 2015
- Next Step Fund, Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, 2015
- The Studios of Key West Artist Residency, Key West, FL, November 2011
- Edenfred Artist Residency, Madison, WI, February 2010
- Anderson Center Residency, Red Wing, MN, August 2007
- St. Croix Watershed Research Station/Artist Residency at Pine Needles, Marine
on St. Croix, MN, 2005
