Marilyn Nelson
Photo by Fran Funk

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1946, Marilyn Nelson was raised on military bases, and as a poet developed a unique perspective on the U.S. Armed Services as the daughter of one of the last of the Tuskegee Airmen. She earned her B.A. from the University of California at Davis, her M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Her books include For the Body (1978); Mama's Promises (1985); The Homeplace (1990), which won the Annisfield-Wolf Award and was a finalist for the National Book Award; The Fields of Praise: New and Selected Poems (1997), which was a finalist for the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, the National Book Award, and the PEN Winship Award; and Carver: A Life in Poems (2001), which was also a finalist for the National Book Award. She has written two collections of poetry for children. Her other honors include two Pushcart Prizes, two fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, and the 1990 Connecticut Arts Award. She is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, and has taught most recently at the University of Delaware.

Tuskegee Airmen, uncles of my childhood, how shall I live and work to match your goodness? Can I do more than murmur name upon name, as the daughter of a thousand proud fathers?

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