Raki Kopernik

Fiction Writer

Minneapolis, MN
Minnesota US

Author's Bio

Raki is a first generation American, queer, Jewish writer. She is the author of The Things You Left and The Memory House, both Minnesota Book Award finalists. Her work has appeared in numerous publications and has been shortlisted and nominated for several other awards, including the Pushcart Prize for Fiction and the Pen Faulkner Award in Fiction. Her queer travel novel, No One’s Leaving, is forthcoming from Unsolicited Press in 2025. She teaches creative writing both at The Minneapolis College of Art and Design and at Augsburg University.

Publications & Prizes

Books:
No One's Leaving (Unsolicited Press, 2025)
,
The Things You Left (Unsolicited Press, 2020)
,
The Memory House (Unsolicited Press, 2019)
Prizes won: 
  • Acacia Fiction Prize Finalist 2022
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee 2021
  • Pen Faulkner Award in Fiction Nominee 2021
  • Minnesota Book Award Finalist 2021
  • Minnesota Book Award Finalist 2020
  • Charlotte Mew Chapbook Contest Semi-Finalist 2020
  • Pushcart Prize Nominee 2018
  • Glimmer Train Short Story Award Top 25 2018
  • Thirty West Chapbook Contest Shortlist 2018
  • Red Hen Press Nonfiction Award Honorable Mention 2017
  • Glimmer Train Short Story Award Honorable Mention 2016
  • Black River Chapbook Contest Finalist 2016

Personal Favorites

Favorite authors: 
Aimee Bender Jhumpa Lahiri Etgar Keret Jeanette Winterson Arundhati Roy Diane di Prima Laura van den Berg Catherine Lacey Lauren Groff Olga Tokarczuk Marge Piercy Maggie Nelson Ocean Vuong Rebecca Brown Tom Spanbauer Eileen Myles
What I'm reading now: 
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Israeli American
Prefers to work with: 
Adults, At Risk Youth, LGBTQ, Parents, Schools, Teenagers, Women
Fluent in: 
English, Hebrew
Born in: 
Chicago, IL
Illinois
Raised in: 
Chicago, IL
Illinois
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Dec 23, 2024