Marjorie Kowalski Cole (July 20, 1953 – December 4, 2009) was an American writer of

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 ...

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...

and novels. She won the 2004 Bellwether Prize (for previously unpublished works of fiction which address issues of

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

) with her first novel ''Correcting the Landscape''.

History

Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Cole lived in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

from 1966 until her death. She earned a BA and an MA in English from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

, and an MLS in Library Science from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. She worked as a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

and for a time as an instructor at the

, retiring in 1999 to focus on

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

. Cole had a strong sense of

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

- enjoying

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, kayaking,

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

and

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

- and a love of travel. She had strong religious faith, and was undertaking a ministry education program when she died. She worked with the Literacy Council of Alaska, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, the Alaska Peace Center and the Fairbanks Arts Association, among others. She loved

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

and was an enthusiastic banjo player.

First novel

''Correcting the Landscape'' deals with the travails of the editor of an alternative weekly paper in

Fairbanks, Alaska Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

, his growing friendship with one of his staff, and his struggle against an environmentally damaging development.

Alan Cheuse Alan Stuart Cheuse (January 23, 1940 – July 31, 2015) was an American writer, editor, professor of literature, and radio commentator. A longtime NPR book commentator, he was also the author of five novels, five collections of short stories and n ...

commented on this novel on the

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

program ''

All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...

''.

Poetry

Cole's poetry collection, ''Inside, Outside, Morningside'', was published posthumously in 2010. A poem from that collection, ''

Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (; rus, links=no, Александр Сергеевич ПушкинIn pre-Revolutionary script, his name was written ., r=Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsandr sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈpuʂkʲɪn, ...

'', about her eponymous

cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...

, was read by Garrison Keillor on his

program '' The Writer's Almanac''.

Second novel

Cole's second novel, ''A Spell on the Water'', appeared in 2011. The novel deals with a widowed mother, four daughters and a son in

Northern Michigan Northern Michigan, also known as Northern Lower Michigan (known colloquially to residents of more southerly parts of the state and summer residents from cities such as Detroit as " Up North"), is a region of the U.S. state of Michigan. A popul ...

between the mid 1950s and early 1970s. They cope---or sometimes fail to cope---with the environment, their rural community, and each other. The children come of age and the family makes ends meet partly by running a somewhat shabby lakeside resort during the summers.Publisher's information, A Spell on the Water
/ref> A collection of stories, ''The City Beneath the Snow'', has been published.

Family

She was married to Terrence Cole from December 1977 to 1997, and had two sons, Henry and Desmond Cole. She married John Patrick Lambert in July 2000.

References

External links

Marjorie Kowalski Cole: poetry & prose

The Alaskan Writers Directory: Marjorie Cole
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Marjorie Kowalski 21st-century American novelists American women short story writers 1953 births 2009 deaths University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni University of Washington Information School alumni American women poets American women novelists 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American poets 20th-century American poets 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers