“Writing
in form is a way of developing your thinking - your thinking along with the
tradition. In a way, it's not you alone, it's you in a partnership.” — Marilyn
Nelson
Born in April of 1946, poet, translator and children's book writer Nelson is the author or translator
of 12 books and three chapbooks.
Professor emeritus of English at the University of Connecticut, she is
the founder and director of Soul Mountain Retreat, a retreat center for new or
emerging writers, especially poets.
Born in Cleveland, the daughter of
one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, she was brought up
living on military bases, and began writing while in elementary school. She said she gravitated to poetry and never
looked back, although readers of her kids’ books say they’re glad she continued in that genre, too. After
earning a Ph.D. in English, she taught at Connecticut for many years and ultimately was
honored with a 5-year stint as Connecticut's Poet Laureate.
Nelson’s poetry collections include
the terrific The Homeplace, which won the Anisfield-Wolf Award and was
the first of three of her books to be finalists for the National Book Award.
In 2012, the Poetry Society of America awarded her the Frost Medal “for
distinguished lifetime service to American poetry,” and in 2013, she was
elected a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
Soft spoken and thoughtful in all she says and does, Nelson said a person’s voice is as important in presenting a poem as are the words on paper.
“Many performance poets seem to believe that yelling a poem makes it comprehensible,” she said. “They are wrong.”
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