Academia Cecil was visiting professor at
Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania from 1986 to 1987, and from 1987 to 1989 was first visiting assistant professor and then visiting professor at Indiana University. He was then appointed assistant professor at
Rhodes College from 1988 to 1989.
Writing Cecil's first collection of poetry, ''Einstein's Brain
was published in 1986. This was followed by Alcatraz
(1992), which was the recipient of the 1991 Verna Emery Poetry Award, and In Search of the Great Dead
in 1999. In 2004, Twenty First Century Blues'' was published by Southern Illinois University Press in 2004. His work has appeared in
American Poetry Review,
Crab Orchard Review,
Poetry,
Ploughshares,
New England Review,
The Georgia Review,
Missouri Review,
Southern Review,
River Styx,
Virginia Quarterly Review. ==Awards==