Mary Swander (born November 5, 1950) is an American

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

of Irish heritage. She holds dual citizenship in Ireland and the United States. Born in

Carroll, Iowa Carroll is a city in, and the county seat of, Carroll County, Iowa, United States, along the Middle Raccoon River. The population was 10,321 in the 2020 census. History Carroll was laid out in 1867. It took its name from Carroll County, which ...

, her ancestors immigrated to the United States during their homeland's potato famine. Swander taught for a decade on the island of

Inishbofin, County Galway Inishbofin (derived from the Irish ''Inis Bó Finne'' meaning 'Island of the White Cow') is a small island off the coast of Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. Inishbofin has around 180 inhabitants and is a tourist destination. Name The island ...

. Her books include the

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

s ''The Desert Pilgrim'' and ''Out of this World'' as well as three books 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 ...

, ''Heaven-and-Earth House'', ''Driving the Body Back'', and ''Succession''. She served as the Poet Laureate of Iowa from 2009 to 2019. Swander has also co-authored a musical, ''Dear Iowa'', with composer Christopher Frank, which has been produced across the Midwest and on

Iowa Public Television Iowa PBS, formerly Iowa Public Television (IPTV), is a network of Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) member stations in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is owned by the Iowa Public Broadcasting Board, an agency of the state education department which h ...

. Her awards include a Whiting Award, a

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 ...

grant for the Literary Arts, the Carl Sandburg Literary Award, and the Nation-Discovery Award. A graduate of the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Wri ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

, she is a Distinguished Professor of English at

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. With an endowment from the Iowa Arts Council granted in 2009, she started a poetry website for Iowans called "The Iowa Literary Community".

External links

Official homepageProfile at The Whiting FoundationThe Iowa Literary Community

References

1950 births Living people Iowa State University faculty Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni Poets Laureate of Iowa {{US-poet-1950s-stub 20th-century American poets Iowa Women's Hall of Fame Inductees