Marilyn Nelson is an American poet, translator and children's book author. She is the author or translator of twelve books and three chapbooks.

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 her B.A. from the University of California-Davis, and an M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

 in 1970, and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 in 1979.

Career

She is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...

 and the founder and director of Soul Mountain Retreat. She was poet laureate

Poet Laureate

A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...

 of the State of Connecticut from 2001-2006.

Her poetry collections include The Homeplace (Louisiana State University Press), which won the 1992 Anisfield-Wolf Award

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards

The Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards are United States literary awards dedicated to honoring written works that make important contributions to the understanding of racism and the appreciation of the rich diversity of human culture...

, and was a finalist for the 1991 National Book Award; and The Fields Of Praise: New And Selected Poems (Louisiana State University Press), won the 1998 Poets' Prize, and was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award. Her honors include two NEA creative writing fellowships, the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, and a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowship

Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...

.

Published works

Poetry Books

• Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World, Dial Books, 2009, Illustrator Jerry Pinkney, ISBN 9780803731875
• Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem (Front Street, 2004, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland)
• Carver, a Life in Poems, Front Street, 2001, ISBN 9781886910539
• For the Body, Louisiana State University Press, 1978, ISBN 9780807104644

Chapbooks

• She-Devil Circus (Aralia Press, 2001)
• Triolets for Triolet (Curbstone Press, 2001)
• Partial Truth (The Kutenai Press, 1992)
• Hundreds of Hens and other poems for children by Halfdan Rasmussen (Black Willow Press, 1982, with Pamela Espeland, illustrations by D.M. Robinson)
• 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

• Pemba’s Song : A Ghost Story (Scholastic Press, 2008, with Tonya Hegamin)
• The Cat Walked Through the Casserole (Carolrhoda Books, 1984, with Pamela Espeland, various illustrators)
• Hundreds of Hens and other poems for children by Halfdan Rasmussen (Black Willow Press, 1982, with Pamela Espeland, illustrations by D.M. Robinson)

Translations

• The Ladder by Halfdan Rasmussen (translated from Danish, Candlewick, 2006, illustrated by Pierre Pratt)
• The Thirteenth Month by Inge Pedersen (translated from Danish, Oberlin College Press, 2005)
• Hecuba by Euripedes, in Euripedes I, Penn Greek Drama Series (translated from earlier English translations, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998)
• 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)

Books for Young Children

• Snook Alone, Candlewick Press, 2010, Illustrator Timothy Basil Ering
  Timothy B. Ering
  Timothy B. Ering is an illustrator best known for his pencil drawings in the book The Tale of Despereaux.-References:...
  
  , ISBN 9780763626679
• Beautiful Ballerina (Scholastic Press, 2009, photographs by Susan Kuklin), ISBN 9780545089203
• The Ladder by Halfdan Rasmussen (Candlewick, 2006)
• The Cat Walked Through the Casserole (Carolrhoda Books, 1984)
• Hundreds of Hens and other poems for children by Halfdan Rasmussen (Black Willow Press, 1982, with Pamela Espeland, illustrations by D.M. Robinson)

Honors and awards

• 2005 Boston Globe–Horn Book Award
• 2001 Boston Globe/Hornbook Award
• 1998 Poets' Prize
• 1992 Anisfield-Wolf Award

Sources

• Library of Congress Online Catalog > Marilyn Nelson
• Author's Booking Agent: Blue Flowers Arts > Author Page > Marilyn Nelson Bio

External links

• Audio: NPR: Poetry > Marilyn Nelson Reading A Wreath for Emmett Till
• Video: Library of Congress > Webcasts: Marilyn Nelson Reading at the Bookfest '03
• Interview: National Book Foundation > Archives > Interview with Marilyn Nelson by Diane Osen
• Author's Booking Agent: Blue Flowers Arts > Author Page > Marilyn Nelson Bio