Marilyn Nelson

{{Short description|American poet, translator, and children's book author (born 1946)}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2023}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Marilyn Nelson | honorific_prefix = | honorific_suffix = | image = Marilyn Nelson 1211962.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | pseudonym = Marilyn Nelson Waniek | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1946|04|26}} | birth_place = [[Cleveland, Ohio]], U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | occupation = Professor, author, translator | language = English | nationality = American | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = [[University of California-Davis]];<br>[[University of Pennsylvania]];<br>[[University of Minnesota]] | period = | genre = Poetry | subject = | movement = | notableworks = | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | module = | website =  | portaldisp = }}

'''Marilyn Nelson''' (born April 26, 1946) is an American poet, translator, biographer, and children's book author. She is a professor emeritus at the [[University of Connecticut]], and the former [[Poet Laureate of Connecticut]].<ref name="pf">{{cite web |website=Poetry Foundation |title=Marilyn Nelson |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/marilyn-nelson |access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> She is a winner of the [[Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize]], the [[NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature|NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature]], and the [[Frost Medal]]. From 1978 to 1994, she published under the name '''Marilyn Nelson Waniek'''.<ref name="loc">{{cite web |website=Library of Congress |title=Nelson, Marilyn, 1946- |url=http://lccn.loc.gov/n78037492 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121212011926/http://lccn.loc.gov/n78037492 |archive-date=December 12, 2012}}</ref> 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''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Marilyn Nelson: Winner of the 2017 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature |url=https://www.neustadtprize.org/2017-marilyn-nelson/ |website=The Neustadt Prizes |date=7 June 2017 |access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=In 'Poetry,' The Story Of An African-American Military Family |url=https://www.npr.org/2014/02/08/272654805/in-poetry-the-story-of-an-african-american-military-family |website=National Public Radio |date=February 8, 2014 |publisher=All Things Considered |access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=NPR's Book Concierge: Our Guide to 2014's Great Reads |url=https://apps.npr.org/best-books-2014/ |website=National Public Radio |access-date=2 April 2019}}</ref>

==Early life== Nelson was born on April 26, 1946, in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], to Melvin M. Nelson, a [[Tuskegee Airman]] and a U.S. serviceman in the [[United States Army Air Forces|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.<ref name="ProQuest bio">{{cite encyclopedia |id={{ProQuest|2471646255}} |title=Nelson, Marilyn, 1946– |encyclopedia=ProQuest Biographies |date=2020 }}</ref>

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.<ref name="poets.org">{{cite web |website=Academy of American Poets |title=Marilyn Nelson |url=https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/marilyn-nelson |access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref>

==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''.<ref name="ProQuest bio"/> From 2001 to 2006, she served as [[poet laureate]] of the State of Connecticut.<ref name="poets.org" /> 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=David |title=An Interview with Marilyn Nelson |journal=African American Review |date=2009 |volume=43 |issue=2–3 |pages=383–395 |id={{Project MUSE|450912}} |doi=10.1353/afa.2009.0036 |jstor=41328615 |s2cid=161715187 }}</ref> She is also known for incorporating the African-American oral tradition into her work.<ref name="ProQuest bio"/> Her poetry collections include ''The Homeplace'' (Louisiana State University Press), which won the 1992 [[Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards|Anisfield-Wolf Book Award]]<ref name="cf">{{cite web |website=Cultural Front |title=African American recipients of poetry prizes, awards (1987–2015) |url=http://www.culturalfront.org/2015/01/african-american-recipients-of-poetry.html |access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> and was a finalist for the 1991 [[National Book Award]];<ref name="poets.org" /> and ''The Fields Of Praise: New And Selected Poems'' (Louisiana State University Press), which won the [[Poets' Prize]] in 1999<ref name="cf" /> and was a finalist for the 1997 National Book Award.

Her honors include two [[National Endowment for the Arts|NEA]] creative writing fellowships, the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, and a 2001 [[Guggenheim Fellowship]].<ref name="poets.org" /> In 2011, she spent a semester as a Brown Foundation Fellow at the [[University of the South]] in [[Sewanee, Tennessee]].<ref name="sewanee">{{cite web |website=Sewanee: The University of the South |title=Brown Foundation Fellows |url=http://www.sewanee.edu/offices/dean/brown-foundation-fellows/ |access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> In 2012, the [[Poetry Society of America]] awarded her the [[Frost Medal]].<ref name="psa">{{cite web |website=Poetry Society of America |title=Announcing the 2012 Frost Medalist, Marilyn Nelson |url=http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/blog/announcing_the_2011_frost_medali/ |access-date=October 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914040018/http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/poetry/blog/announcing_the_2011_frost_medali/ |archive-date=September 14, 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2013, Nelson was elected a chancellor of the [[Academy of American Poets]].<ref name="poets.org" />

==Published works== ===Poetry books=== * ''For the Body'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1978, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-0464-4}}) * ''Mama's Promises'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1985, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-1250-2}}) * ''The Homeplace'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-1641-8}}) * ''Magnificat'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1994, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-1921-1}}) * ''The Fields of Praise: New and Selected Poems'' (Louisiana State University Press, 1997, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-2175-7}}) * ''[[Carver: A Life in Poems]]'' (Front Street, 2001, {{ISBN|978-1-886910-53-9}}) * ''Fortune’s Bones: The Manumission Requiem'' (Front Street, 2004, notes and annotations by Pamela Espeland) * ''The Cachoeira Tales, and Other Poems'' (Louisiana State University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-3064-3}}) * ''A Wreath for Emmett Till'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2005, Illustrator Philippe Lardy, {{ISBN|978-0-618-39752-5}}) * ''The Freedom Business: Including A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa'' (Front Street, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-932425-57-4}}) * ''[[Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story Of The Greatest All-Girl Swing Band In The World]]'' (Dial Books, 2009, Illustrator Jerry Pinkney, {{ISBN|9780803731875}}) * ''Faster Than Light: New and Selected Poems, 1996-2011'' (Louisiana State University Press, 2012, {{ISBN|978-0-8071-4734-4}}) * ''My Seneca Village'' (Namelos, 2015, {{ISBN|978-1-6089-8197-7}}) * ''The Meeting House'' (Antrim House, 2016, {{ISBN|978-1-9438-2612-4}}) * ''American Ace'' (Dial Books, 2016, {{ISBN|978-0-8037-3305-3}}) * ''How I Discovered Poetry'' (Speak, 2016, {{ISBN|978-0-1475-1005-1}})

===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=== * ''The Cat Walked Through the Casserole'' (Carolrhoda Books, 1984, with Pamela Espeland, various illustrators) * ''Miss Crandall’s School for Young Ladies and Little Misses of Color'' (Wordsong, 2007, with Elizabeth Alexander, illustrated by Floyd Cooper, {{ISBN|978-1-59078-456-3}}) * ''Pemba's Song: A Ghost Story'' (Scholastic Press, 2008, with Tonya Hegamin) * ''Mrs. Nelson's Class'' (editor, World Enough Writers, 2012)

===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=== * ''The Cat Walked Through the Casserole'' (Carolrhoda Books, 1984) * ''Beautiful Ballerina'' (Scholastic Press, 2009, photographs by Susan Kuklin, {{ISBN|978-0-545-08920-3}}) * ''Snook Alone'' (Candlewick Press, 2010, illustrated by [[Timothy B. Ering|Timothy Basil Ering]], {{ISBN|978-0-7636-2667-9}}) * ''Ostrich and Lark'' (Boyds Mills Press, 2012, illustrated by San artists of the Kuru Art Project of Botswana, {{ISBN|978-1-5907-8702-1}})

===Anthology contributions=== * ''Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology'' (University of Georgia Press, 2018)

==Honors and awards== *Kent fellowship, 1976 *National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, 1981, 1990 *Connecticut Arts Award, 1990 *National Book Award finalist for poetry, 1991 *Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, 1992 *Fulbright teaching fellowship, 1995 *National Book Award finalist for poetry, 1997 *'''The Poets Award, 1998'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Awards |url=https://poetrysociety.org/awards |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=Poetry Society of America |language=en}}</ref> *Poets' Prize, 1999, for ''The Fields of Praise: New and Selected Poems'' *Contemplative Practices fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies, 2000 *'''Poet Laureate for the State of Connecticut, Connecticut Commission on the Arts, 2001-2006'''<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Poet Laureate --Former Poet Laureates |url=https://portal.ct.gov/DECD/Content/Arts-and-Culture/Awards_Recognition/State-Poet-Laureate/Former-Poet-Laureates |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220929215037/https://portal.ct.gov/DECD/Content/Arts-and-Culture/Awards_Recognition/State-Poet-Laureate/Former-Poet-Laureates |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 29, 2022 |access-date=2023-10-10 |website=CT.gov - Connecticut's Official State Website |language=en}}</ref> *J.S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship, 2001 for ''[[Carver: A Life in Poems]]'' *Boston Globe/Horn Book Award, 2001 for ''Carver: A Life in Poems'' *National Book Award finalist in young-people's literature category, 2001 for ''Carver: A Life in Poems'' *Coretta Scott King Honor Book designation, 2002 for ''Carver: A Life in Poems'' *Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for Nonfiction, 2002 for ''Carver: A Life in Poems'' *Newbery Honor designation, 2002 for ''Carver: A Life in Poems'' *Coretta Scott King Book Award, 2005, for ''Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem'' *Two Pushcart prizes {{clarify|date=February 2023}} *Michael L. Printz Award honor book designation, 2006 for ''A Wreath for Emmett Till'' *Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award honor book designation, 2006 for ''A Wreath for Emmett Till'' *Coretta Scott King Honor Award, 2006 for ''A Wreath for Emmett Till'' *Lifetime Achievement honor, Connecticut Book Awards, 2006,<ref name="gale">{{cite web |website=Encyclopedia.com - Contemporary Authors |title=Nelson, Marilyn 1946- (Marilyn Nelson Waniek) |publisher=Gale |date=2009 |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/nelson-marilyn-1946-marilyn-nelson-waniek }}</ref> *[[NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature|NSK Neustadt Prize for Children’s Literature]], 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.neustadtprize.org/marilyn-nelson-announced-2017-nsk-neustadt-prize-childrens-literature-winner/|title=Marilyn Nelson Announced as 2017 NSK Neustadt Prize for Children's Literature Winner - The Neustadt Prize|date=2016-10-30|work=The Neustadt Prize|access-date=2017-07-24|language=en-US}}</ref> *[[Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize]], 2019. Noted for being "a renowned poet, author, and translator who has worked steadily throughout her career to highlight topics that aren’t often talked about in poetry. Her literary work, spanning more than four decades, examines complex issues around race, feminism, and the ongoing trauma of slavery in American life in narratives poised between song and speech."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/press/149926/poetry-foundation-announces-2019-pegasus-awards-winners-marilyn-nelson-awarded-ruth-lilly-poetry-prize |title=Poetry Foundation Announces 2019 Pegasus Awards Winners, Marilyn Nelson Awarded Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize |date=May 7, 2019 |website=Poetry Foundation |language=en |access-date=2019-05-31}}</ref>

== 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'', <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.7588/worllitetoda.92.2.0057</nowiki>. Retrieved 10 October 2023.

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading== * {{cite web |last1=Waniek |first1=Marilyn Nelson |author-link=Marilyn Nelson |website=[[The Gettysburg Review]] |title=Owning the Masters |date=1995 |access-date=November 22, 2017 |url=http://www.gettysburgreview.com/selections/past_selections/details.dot?inode=b36a4235-cd4a-4cf6-8c98-e714b1240d28&pageTitle=Marilyn%20Nelson%20Waniek&author=Marilyn%20Nelson%20Waniek&story=true |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122185752/http://www.gettysburgreview.com/selections/past_selections/details.dot?inode=b36a4235-cd4a-4cf6-8c98-e714b1240d28&pageTitle=Marilyn%20Nelson%20Waniek&author=Marilyn%20Nelson%20Waniek&story=true |archive-date=November 22, 2017 |url-status=dead }} * {{cite book |editor-last1=Page |editor-first1=Yolanda Williams |title=Encyclopedia of African American Women Writers |chapter=Waniel, Marilyn Nelson |pages=598–599 |isbn=9780313334290 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |date=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iTWu0aSofkkC}} * {{cite book |editor-last1=Barron |editor-first1=Jonathan |editor-last2=Meyer |editor-first2=Bruce |chapter=Marilyn Nelson |title=Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 282: New Formalist Poets |location=Detroit |publisher=Gale Group |date=2003 |pages=233–240 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0UmLnQAACAAJ}} * {{cite book |last1=Dick |first1=Rodney Franklin |title=Creative and Constructive Tensions: A Discussion of the Poetry of Marilyn Nelson |publisher=University of Louisville |date=2000 |oclc=46713946 }} * {{cite book |editor-last1=Parini |editor-first1=Jay |editor-link=Jay Parini |title=American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies |publisher=Scribner |date=1979 |isbn=9780684136622 |chapter=Marilyn Nelson |pages=171–187 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c04OAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Marilyn+Nelson%22}}

==External links== * [https://marilyn-nelson.com/ Official website] * {{LCAuth|n78037492|Marilyn Nelson|24|}} * [https://archivessearch.lib.uconn.edu/repositories/2/resources/553 Marilyn Nelson Papers] - [[University of Connecticut Archives and Special Collections]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelson, Marilyn}} [[Category:1946 births]] [[Category:20th-century African-American women writers]] [[Category:20th-century African-American writers]] [[Category:20th-century American poets]] [[Category:20th-century American translators]] [[Category:21st-century African-American women writers]] [[Category:21st-century African-American writers]] [[Category:21st-century American poets]] [[Category:21st-century American translators]] [[Category:African-American poets]] [[Category:American women academics]] [[Category:Formalist poets]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:National Endowment for the Arts Fellows]] [[Category:Newbery Honor winners]] [[Category:Poets from Connecticut]] [[Category:Poets from Ohio]] [[Category:Poets laureate of Connecticut]] [[Category:University of California, Davis alumni]] [[Category:University of Connecticut faculty]] [[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]] [[Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni]] [[Category:Writers from Cleveland]] [[Category:Writers from Connecticut]] [[Category:20th-century American women poets]] [[Category:21st-century American women poets]]