Marilyn Nelson

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Marilyn Nelson aka the best poet in the world.
University of California-Davis;
University of Pennsylvania;
University of Minnesota
GenrePoetry

Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, biographer, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the

Frost Medal. From 1978 to 1994, she published under the name Marilyn Nelson Waniek.[2] She is the author or translator of more than twenty books and five chapbooks of poetry for adults and children. While most of her work deals with historical subjects, in 2014 she published a memoir, named one of NPR's Best Books of 2014, entitled How I Discovered Poetry.[3][4][5]

Early life

Nelson was born on April 26, 1946, in

Tuskegee Airman and a U.S. serviceman in the Air Force, and Johnnie Mitchell Nelson, a teacher and pianist. She grew up on military bases and moved all across the United States throughout her childhood. She began writing while in elementary school, yet discovered her love for poetry while attending a segregated middle school in Texas. Here, she was introduced to the work of African-American poets.[6]

Nelson earned a B.A. degree from the

University of California-Davis, an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1979.[7]

Career

In 1978, Nelson became a professor of English at the University of Connecticut and published her first book, the poetry collection For the Body.[6] From 2001 to 2006, she served as poet laureate of the State of Connecticut.[7] During this time, she also founded the Soul Mountain Retreat. She retired professor emeritus from the University of Connecticut in 2002 yet continued to actively write.

Nelson's poetry has a dominant family aspect, recovery for African-American history as well as the search for sacred in everyday life.

Anisfield-Wolf Book Award[9] and was a finalist for the 1991 National Book Award;[7] and The Fields Of Praise: New And Selected Poems (Louisiana State University Press), which won the Poets' Prize in 1999[9]
and was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award.

Her honors include two

Frost Medal.[11] In 2013, Nelson was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.[7]

Published works

Poetry books

Chapbooks

  • Partial Truth (The Kutenai Press, 1992)
  • She-Devil Circus (Aralia Press, 2001)
  • Triolets for Triolet (Curbstone Press, 2001)
  • The Freedom Business: Connecticut Landscapes Through the Eyes of Venture Smith (Lyme Historical Society, Florence Griswold Museum, 2006, illustrated by American paintings from the Florence Griswold Museum)

Collaborative books

Translations

  • Hundreds of Hens and Other Poems for Children by Halfdan Rasmussen (translated from Danish, Black Willow Press, 1982, with Pamela Espeland, illustrations by D.M. Robinson)
  • Hecuba by Euripides, in Euripides I, Penn Greek Drama Series (translated from earlier English translations, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998)
  • The Thirteenth Month by Inge Pedersen (translated from Danish, Oberlin College Press, 2005)
  • The Ladder by Halfdan Rasmussen (translated from Danish, Candlewick, 2006, illustrated by Pierre Pratt)
  • A Little Bitty Man and Other Poems for the Very Young by Halfdan Rasmussen (translated from Danish with Pamela Espeland, Candlewick, 2011, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes)

Books for young children

Anthology contributions

  • Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology (University of Georgia Press, 2018)

Honors and awards

Speeches and talks

Sarah Rebecca Warren. "Telling It Slant: A Conversation with Marilyn Nelson". World Literature Today, vol. 92, no. 2, 2018, pp. 57–59. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.7588/worllitetoda.92.2.0057. Retrieved 10 October 2023.

References

  1. ^ "Marilyn Nelson". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  2. ^ "Nelson, Marilyn, 1946-". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on December 12, 2012.
  3. ^ "Marilyn Nelson: Winner of the 2017 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature". The Neustadt Prizes. June 7, 2017. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  4. ^ "In 'Poetry,' The Story Of An African-American Military Family". National Public Radio. All Things Considered. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  5. ^ "NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide to 2014's Great Reads". National Public Radio. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  6. ^
    ProQuest 2471646255
    .
  7. ^ a b c d e "Marilyn Nelson". Academy of American Poets. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  8. S2CID 161715187. Project MUSE 450912
    .
  9. ^ a b "African American recipients of poetry prizes, awards (1987–2015)". Cultural Front. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  10. ^ "Brown Foundation Fellows". Sewanee: The University of the South. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  11. ^ "Announcing the 2012 Frost Medalist, Marilyn Nelson". Poetry Society of America. Archived from the original on September 14, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  12. ^ "Awards". Poetry Society of America. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  13. ^ "State Poet Laureate --Former Poet Laureates". CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
  14. ^ "Nelson, Marilyn 1946- (Marilyn Nelson Waniek)". Encyclopedia.com - Contemporary Authors. Gale. 2009.
  15. ^ "Marilyn Nelson Announced as 2017 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature Winner - The Neustadt Prize". The Neustadt Prize. October 30, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  16. ^ "Poetry Foundation Announces 2019 Pegasus Awards Winners, Marilyn Nelson Awarded Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize". Poetry Foundation. May 7, 2019. Retrieved May 31, 2019.

Further reading

External links
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