- Biography
- Teaching
- Research and Creative Activity
- Grants
- Honors and Awards
- Service
Education
Ph.D., English Literature, Harvard University Cambridge United States
M.F.A., Creative Writing (Poetry), University of Iowa Iowa City United States
B.A., English Literature; Creative Writing, Princeton University Princeton United States
Artistic and Creative Activities
Raphel, A. (2026). ABCMiami.
Raphel, A. (2026). Two Poems.
Raphel, A. (2026). Two Poems.
Raphel, A. (2025). Toll.
Raphel, A. (2025). The Gutting of the IWP.
Raphel, A. (2025). Arts Funding in Peril.
Raphel, A. (2025). Why New Yorkers Yearn for Barneys.
Raphel, A. (2025). Five Real Estate Fables.
Raphel, A. (2024). The Life and Times of the Paris Metro.
Raphel, A. (2024). The ABCs of Gardening.
Raphel, A. (2024). How Gen Z Made Crosswords Their Own.
Raphel, A. (2024). Two Poems: Jupiter, Neptune, Minerva, and Momus; The Travelers and the Sea.
Raphel, A. (2024). Sunday Morning.
Raphel, A. (2024). Two poems from Real Estate Fables.
Raphel, A. (2024). Book review of The Karman Line by Daisy Atterbury.
Raphel, A. (2024). "Issue No. 250: A Crossword".
Raphel, A. (2024). Cultural Clues Crossword. John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Raphel, A. (2024). How Ruth Krauss Made a New Kind of Children's Literature.
Raphel, A. (2024). How Crossword Creators Make Our Favorite Word Games.
Raphel, A. (2024). Atlas Obscura's Ultimate Word Game Tournament.
Raphel, A. (2024). From Family Game to Cult Film to ‘Thirst Trap,’ Clue Has Been Through It.
Raphel, A. (2024). How the Pandemic Brought Cheating to the World of Competitive Bridge.
Raphel, A. (2024). The Hidden Worlds of Monopoly.
Raphel, A. (2023). "The Dead Silence of Goods": Annie Ernaux and the Superstore.
Raphel, A. (2023). Nightmares of a Shopaholic.
Raphel, A. (2023). Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue. For Poets in Love, Only Couplets Will Do..
Raphel, A. (2022). Felix by Proxy.
Raphel, A. (2022). Barneys Fantasia.
Raphel, A. (2022). Shopping Diary.
Raphel, A. (2021). Real Estate: More Fables.
Raphel, A. (2021). Real Estate Fables.
Raphel, A. (2021). The Fourth Rhyme: On Stephen Sondheim.
Raphel, A. (2020). A Brief History of Word Games.
Raphel, A., & Bates, G. (2019). Imogen and the Beginning of Color.
Raphel, A. Morrison's Infinity Knots: Sites of Memory at Princeton.
Books
Raphel, A. (2026). Real Estate Fables. New York, NY, Futurepoem.
Raphel, A. (2022). Our Dark Academia. (p. 138). Iowa City, IA, Rescue Press.
Raphel, A. (2020). Thinking Inside the Box: Adventures with Crosswords and the Puzzling People Who Can't Live Without Them. (p. 304). New York, NY, Penguin Press.
Raphel, A. (2017). What Was It For. (p. 116). Iowa City, IA, Rescue Press.
Conference Proceedings
Raphel, A. (2024). The Art of Crosswords.
Raphel, A. (2024). Dreamy with a Side of Danger: Dark Academia in the Classroom.
Media Contributions
Raphel, A. The Font of Poetry, the Poetry of Font, (2015-08-03).
Raphel, A. A Lifeline from Literary Arts Fund, (March/April ).
Article about assistance to arts organizations from new Literary Arts Fund
Raphel, A. Why Fast-Food Chains Love (And Deny) Having Secret Menus, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. Why Adults Are Buying Coloring Books (for Themselves), (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. The Startling Poetry of a Nearly Forgotten Japanese Modernist, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. A Lexicographer’s Memoir of Merriam-Webster in the Internet Age, (The New Yorker ).
Raphel, A. Losing Count, (2015--04-16).
Raphel, A. (2026). A Century of Book of the Month, (November/December 2026).
Article about the evolution of Book of the Month
Raphel, A. (2026). Jeopardy!: A Partial Taxonomy, (February 9).
Feature analyzing the popular quiz show Jeopardy!
Raphel, A. (2026). Maple-maxxing, (April 14).
Feature piece on maple syrup as athletic supplement
Raphel, A. (2026). Librarians Aren't Afraid of AI, (July/August).
Article about librarians' adaptations to AI
Raphel, A. (2026). The Author's Guild Confronts AI, (September/October).
Article about the Authors' Guild's Human Certification mark, and about the ethics of AI writing.
Raphel, A. (2025). "Know Any Good Gossip?", (February 11, 2025).
New York Times profile of "Normal Gossip" podcast host and author Kelsey McKinney
Raphel, A. (2025). "Moomins Enter the Cuteness Pantheon, With Help from Gen-Z", (July 28, 2025).
Raphel, A. (2024). "Dating App Fatigue? In Vermont, Personal Ads Still Thrive.", (November 25, 2024).
New York Times article about Vermont journalism and personals sections
Raphel, A. (2024). Through a Grid, Darkly: On Anna Shechtman’s “The Riddles of the Sphinx”, (Los Angeles Review of Books).
Raphel, A. (2022). The Gloriously Earthy Stink of Katherine Dunn’s Fiction, (2022-11-01).
Raphel, A. (2021). What Has One Eye and 1,200 Heads? An Old English Riddle, That's What!, (2021-09-09).
Raphel, A. (2020). Ramona Forever, (2020-09-24).
Raphel, A. (2020). The Paris Review's Poetry Crossword, (2020-04-09).
Raphel, A. (2020). The Paris Review Crossword, (2020-03-11).
Raphel, A. (2019). How Crosswords Put Your Brain Into Hyperdrive, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2016). Curious George Learns About Brand Recognition, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2016). Inside the Venture-Capital Arm of "Sesame Street", (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2016). The Marianne Moore Revival, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2015). A History of Punctuation for the Internet Age, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2015). Bento Boxes and the Grade-School Power Lunch, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2015). The Work-College Revival, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). TaskRabbit Redux, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). The Limits of Reading Rainbow, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). What Happened to the Harlequin Romance?, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). Competition for McDonald's, And For Ronald, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). The Virtual Moleskine, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). Branding Arthur Chu, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2014). The Man Who Built Catan, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2013). What Happened to Atlantic City?, (The New Yorker).
Raphel, A. (2013). Our Dolls, Ourselves?, (The New Yorker).
| Honor / Award | Organization Sponsor | Date Received | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbara Reich Gluck Teaching Award | Baruch College | 2025-05-07 | Award to a full-time faculty member for excellence in teaching First-Year Writing and Great Works of Literature |
| Visiting Fellowship | American Library in Paris | 2023-06-01 | The highly competitive Visiting Fellowship offers writers and researchers an opportunity to pursue a creative project in Paris for a month or longer while participating actively in the life of the American Library through workshops and readings. |
| James Merrill Writer in Residence | James Merrill House | 2023-06-01 | This highly competitive writing residency offers living and working space and a stipend to a writer to complete a project of literary or academic merit. Fellows are also hosted by local community members and organizations. |
| Writer in Residence | The Mastheads | 2018-07-01 | Highly competitive month-long writing residency in the Berkshires for writers and scholars to pursue creative projects. |
College
| Committee Name | Position Role | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Moth | Faculty Advisor | Present | |
| Awards and Honors Committee | Committee Member | Present | |
| Romanticism Seminar | Instructor | 12/30/2026 | |
| The Moth | Faculty Advisor | 5/21/2026 |
Professional
| Organization | Position Role | Organization State | Organization Country | Start Date | End Date | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Language Association | Conference-Related | Ontario | Canada | 1/8/2026 | 10/11/2026 | International |
| James Merrill Writer-in-Residence Program | Workshop Organizer | Connecticut | United States | 7/1/2026 | 10/5/2026 | International |