Jeanne Murray Walker (born May 27, 1944) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

and playwright.

Life

Jeanne Murray was born on May 27, 1944 in

Parkers Prairie, Minnesota Parkers Prairie is a city in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,020 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History Parkers Prairie was platted in 1880, some ten years after its ...

, the daughter of John Gerald and Erna Murray. In 1965, she won the Atlantic Monthly Award for both fiction and Poetry and was named the Atlantic Monthly Scholar at

Bread Loaf School of English Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all 5 ...

. She graduated from Wheaton College in Illinois with a B.A. in English in 1966. In 1969 she received an M.A. from Loyola University, and in 1974, she was granted a Ph.D. in English from

The University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. Walker's poems and essays have appeared in ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

'', ''

The Georgia Review ''The Georgia Review'' is a literary journal based in Athens, Georgia. Founded at University of Georgia in 1947, the journal features poetry, fiction, essays, book reviews, and visual art. The journal has won National Magazine Awards for Fiction ...

'', ''Image'', ''

The Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

Best American Poetry ''The Best American Poetry'' series consists of annual poetry anthologies, each containing seventy-five poems. Background The series, begun by poet and editor David Lehman in 1988, has a different guest editor every year. Lehman, still the general ...

'' and many other journals. Her plays have been staged across the United States and in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Among her awards are an NEA Fellowship, an Atlantic Monthly Fellowship, and a Pew Fellowship in The Arts. In 2005 she hosted a documentary about poetry in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, which was broadcast and rebroadcast on television and the web. A selection from her "Aunt Joe Poems" was featured on buses and trains with the Poetry in Motion project. A Professor of English at

The University of Delaware The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's ...

, Jeanne also teaches in the Seattle Pacific Low Residency MFA Program. Walker has two children and three grandchildren. She is married to E. Daniel Larkin III and lives in

Merion Station, Pennsylvania Merion Station, also known as Merion, is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. It borders Philadelphia to its west and is one of the communities that make up the Philadelphia Main Line. Merion Station is part of Lower Me ...

Major works

Poetry

*''New Tracks, Night Falling'', Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2009. *''A Deed to the Light'', University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago, 2004. *''Gaining Time'', Copper Beech Press, Providence, RI, 1998. *''Stranger Than Fiction'', QRL, Princeton, NJ, 1992. *''Coming Into History'', Cleveland State University Press, Cleveland, OH, 1990. *''Fugitive Angels'', Dragon Gate Press, Port Townsend, WA, 1985. *''Nailing Up The Home Sweet Home'', Cleveland State University Press, Cleveland, OH, 1980.

Drama

*"The Queen, the Earl, and the Waiting Woman," CITA Anthology, 2009. *"Inventing Montana," Woodstock, Illinois: Dramatic Publishing Company, 2002. *"Tales From The Daily Tabloid," Woodstock, Illinois: Dramatic Publishing Company, 2002. *Collected Plays, North American Women's Drama, women playwrights in English, Alexander Street Press, on line through U.S. and Canadian university and college libraries.

Other work

*Memoir: The Geography of Memory: A Pilgrimage through Alzheimers *Short fiction in magazines such as ''

The Southern Review ''The Southern Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established by Robert Penn Warren in 1935 at the behest of Charles W. Pipkin and funded by Huey Long as a part of his investment in Louisiana State University. It publishes fiction ...

'' and ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Corporation. It is one of the " Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publication as of January 2019 and now operates an article-comprise ...

'' *Essays in periodicals such as ''Image'' and ''Midwest Quarterly'' *''Shadow & Light: Literature and the Life of Faith, 3rd Edition'', 1300–2000, Ed. Darryl Tippens, Stephen Weathers, and Jeanne Murray Walker,

Abilene, TX Abilene ( ) is a city in Taylor and Jones Counties in Texas, United States. Its population was 125,182 at the 2020 census, making it the 27th-most populous city in the state of Texas. It is the principal city of the Abilene metropolitan stat ...

Abilene Christian University Press Abilene Christian University Press, also known as ACU Press, is an Abilene, Texas-based university press that is connected with Abilene Christian University. Since being formed it has released or acquired 456 titles and the press releases, on a ...

, 2013 .

Awards

*Glenna Luschei Poetry Prize * Pew Fellowship in Poetry *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

Fellowship *Eight

Pennsylvania Council on the Arts The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) is an agency serving the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to strengthen the cultural, educational, and economic vitality of Pennsylvania's communities through the arts. This mission is paired wit ...

Fellowships *Readers' Choice Award for Poetry, ''

Prairie Schooner ''Prairie Schooner'' is a literary magazine published quarterly at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with the cooperation of UNL's English Department and the University of Nebraska Press. It is based in Lincoln, Nebraska and was first publish ...

'' *Washington National Theatre Competition New Play Award *The Virginia Duvall Mann New Play Award *Fellow, University of Delaware Center For Advanced Study *Associated Writing Programs Award for Poetry *Atlantic Monthly Fellowship for Poetry and Fiction, Bread Loaf School of English

References

* * *

External links

Jeanne Murray Walker — Reading versedaily.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Jeanne Murray 1944 births Living people People from Otter Tail County, Minnesota Poets from Minnesota Pew Fellows in the Arts American women poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American women writers American women dramatists and playwrights Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni University of Delaware faculty National Endowment for the Arts Fellows American women essayists 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists American women academics