Marilyn L. Taylor

Poet

Madison, WI
Wisconsin US

Author's Bio

MARILYN TAYLOR is the former Poet Laureate of the state of Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee, and the author of six poetry collections, the newest of which, Step on a Crack, was published in 2016 by White Violet Press (Kelsay Books). Her poems and essays have appeared in many anthologies and journals, including Poetry, Measure, Able Muse, Rhino, and the Random House anthology titled Villanelles. She has been awarded First Place in a number of national and international poetry contests, most recently from Winning Writers (the 2015 Margaret Reid Award for verse in forms.) She has been a finalist for the X.J. Kennedy Parody Contest, the Howard Nemerov Sonnet awared, and the 2017 Lacaux Review prize. She also edited the anthology titled Love Affairs at the Villanelle (Kelsay Books, 2018). She currently serves on the editorial staffs of Verse-Virtual and Third Wednesday poetry journals. Taylor lives in Madison, Wisconsin, and regularly facilitates independent poetry workshops and presentations statewide and elsewhere—including programs sponsored by Lawrence University, Poetry by the Sea in Connecticut, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Division of Continuing Studies.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
Able Muse Anthology (Able Muse Press, 2010)
,
Filled with Breath: 30 Sonnets by 30 Poets (Exot Books, 2010)
,
Letters to the World (Red Hen Press, 2008)
,
On Retirement: 75 Poems (University of Iowa Press, 2007)
,
Body Language: A Head-to-Toe Anthology (Black Moss Press, 2003)
,
Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge (PoetWorks Press, 2003)
,
New Voices (Academy of American Poets, 2002)
,
The POETRY Anthology, 1912 - 2002 (Ivan R. Dee, 2002)
,
Smaller Than God (Black Moss Press, 2001)
,
Claiming the Spirit (Beacon Press, 1996)
Books:
Step on a Crack (Kelsay Books, 2016)
,
Going Wrong (Parallel Press, 2009)
,
Subject to Change (David Robert Books, 2004)
,
Exit Only (Anamnesis Press, 2001)
,
Greatest Hits (Pudding House Publications, 2001)
,
Shadows Like These (William Caxton Limited, 1994)
Journals: ,
American Scholar
, ,
Iris
,
Mezzo Cammin
, ,
Poetry Daily
,
Primavera
, ,
Verse Daily
,
Writer
Prizes won: 

Dogwood Poetry Prize, Passager Poetry Prize, The Ledge Poetry Prize, GSU Poetry Prize, The Anamnesis Press Poetry Prize, 2015 Margaret Ried Poetry Award for Formal Poetry

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Poets: Dick Allen, Ellen Bass, Richard Wilbur, Billy Collins, A.E. Stallings, Stephen Dunn, Robert Frost, Marilyn Nelson, Naomi Shehab Nye, Elizabeth Bishop, Barbara Crooker (among many others) Fiction writers: Colm Toibin, Edith Wharton, Alan Paton, Anne Tyler, Virginia Woolf (among many others)
What I'm reading now: 
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro, Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov, Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Born in: 
Chicago, IL
Illinois
Raised in: 
Milwaukee and Madison, WI
Wisconsin
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Sep 26, 2021