Marilyn Nelson

Marilyn Nelson
Born (1946-04-26) April 26, 1946
Cleveland, Ohio
Occupation Professor
Nationality American
Alma mater University of California-Davis;
University of Pennsylvania;
University of Minnesota
Genre Poetry

Marilyn Nelson (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator and children's book author. She is the author or translator of twelve books and three chapbooks. From 1978 to 1994 she wrote books as Marilyn Nelson Waniek.[1]

Early life

Nelson was born on April 26, 1946 in Cleveland, Ohio to Melvin M. Nelson, a U.S. serviceman in the Air Force, and Johnnie Mitchell Nelson, a teacher. She was brought up living on military bases, and began writing while in elementary school. She earned a B.A. 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.[2]

Career

She is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Connecticut and the founder and director of Soul Mountain Retreat. She was poet laureate of the State of Connecticut from 20012006.[3]

Her poetry collections include The Homeplace (Louisiana State University Press), which won the 1992 Anisfield-Wolf Award and was a finalist for the 1991 National Book Award; and The Fields Of Praise: New And Selected Poems (Louisiana State University Press), which won the 1998 Poets' Prize and was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award.[2][4] Her honors include two NEA creative writing fellowships, the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, and a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship.[5] In 2012, the Poetry Society of America awarded her the Frost Medal.[6] In 2013, Nelson was elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.[7]

Published works

Poetry books
Chapbooks
Collaborative books
Translations
Books for young children

Honors and awards

References

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