Laura Kasischke is an American fiction writer and

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 ...

. She is best known for writing the novels ''

Suspicious River ''Suspicious River'' is a 2000 Canadian drama film directed by Lynne Stopkewich, based on a novel by Laura Kasischke, and starring Molly Parker and Callum Keith Rennie. Its plot follows a young woman in 1981 who begins prostituting herself and c ...

'', ''

The Life Before Her Eyes ''The Life Before Her Eyes'' is a 2007 American thriller film directed by Vadim Perelman. The screenplay was adapted by Emil Stern from the Laura Kasischke novel of the same name. The film stars Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. It was released on ...

'' and ''

White Bird in a Blizzard ''White Bird in a Blizzard'' is a 2014 art drama thriller film co-produced, written, directed and edited by Gregg Araki and starring Shailene Woodley, Eva Green, and Christopher Meloni. Based on the novel of the same name by Laura Kasischke, the ...

'', all of which have been adapted to film.

Life and work

She was born in

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

. Kasischke attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

(MFA 1987) and Columbia University. She lives in

Chelsea, Michigan Chelsea is a city in Washtenaw County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 5,467 at the 2020 census. History The area was first settled as early as 1820 within the Michigan Territory by settler Cyrus Beckwith. It would be organized ...

, with her husband and son. She is the Theodore Roethke Distinguished University Professor of English Language and Literature, and of the Residential College at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Kasischke's literary works have been recognized and highlighted at Michigan State University in their Michigan Writers Series. Her novel ''The Life Before Her Eyes'' is the basis for the film of the same name, directed by Vadim Perelman, and starring Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood. Kasischke's work is particularly well received in France, where she is widely read in translation. Her novel ''A moi pour toujours'' (''Be Mine'') was published by Christian Bourgois, and was a national best seller. Her most recent book of poetry, ''Where Now - New and Selected Poems'', was published in 2017 by

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both popu ...

Awards

Kasischke was awarded the 2011

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Poetry Society of America The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, Ro ...

, the

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

, the Elmer Holmes Bobst Award for Emerging Writers, and the

Beatrice Hawley Award The Alice James Award, formerly the Beatrice Hawley Award, is given annually by Alice James Books. The award includes publication of a book-length poetry manuscript and a cash prize (currently $2,000). The award was established by the press in 1986 ...

. She is the recipient of two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2005 she was

The Frost Place The Frost Place is a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home on Ridge Road in Franconia, New Hampshire, United States. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. ...

poet in residence and in 2009 she was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

in Creative Arts - Poetry

Bibliography

Poetry

* * * ''Fire and Flower'' (

Alice James Books Alice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington. History and mission "Alice James Books was founded as a co-operative press in Cambridge, MA in 19 ...

, 1998) * ''What It Wasn't'' (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2002) * * * * * The Infinitesimals (

, 2014) * Where Now: New and Selected Poems (

, 2017)

Fiction

Novels

* * * * * ''Be Mine'' (Mariner Books, 2007) * * * * *

Short story collections

Short stories

Screenplays

*''

References

External links

''The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor > ''Bike Ride with Older Boys'' by Laura Kasischke

''Boston Review'' > Review by Stephen Burt of ''Lilies Without'' by Laura Kasischke

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasischke, Laura Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers University of Michigan faculty American women novelists American women poets National Endowment for the Arts Fellows The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people University of Michigan alumni Novelists from Michigan Columbia University alumni 21st-century American poets Poets from Michigan Writers from Grand Rapids, Michigan 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American women writers American women academics Year of birth missing (living people)