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Nebraska Authors

Marilyn June Coffey

Born 1937 Alma, NE (USA)

Writer and Poet, Coffey has published regularly since 1973. Her non-fiction has appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Natural History, and Associated Press News features. She won the 1976 Pushcart Prize for her poem "Pricksong." Coffey credits Mari Sandoz, Willa Cather, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg as influences on her writing.

Places Lived

Omaha, NE
Lincoln, NE
Orleans, NE
New York, NY
Boston, MA
Hays, KS
Alma, NE.

Author Of

  • Fiction
  • Journalism
  • Nonfiction
  • Poetry

Keywords

Novels; Essays; Short stories; Memoirs; Sexual Abuse; Feminism

Education

High School Diploma, Alma High School, Alma, NE
Bachelor of Arts Degree, 1959, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Master of Fine Arts Degree in Creative Writing, 1981, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY

Occupation

Educator
Story teller and Interpretive Reader
Performer of her own work
Poetry Editor of Trans-Missouri Art View
Retired Professor

Places Worked

Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
Boston University, Boston, MA
Fort Hayes State College, Hays, KS
St. Mary's Weekend College, Lincoln, NE

Honors

Pushcart Prize, 1976, Pricksong
Four of her poems won Newark Public Library competitions
In 1991 she became the first poetry editor of Trans-Missouri Art View
Master alumnus, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, 1977
First novel written in English to use female autoeroticism as a main theme, 1973, Marcella
Other prizes for poems: 1985, 1987, 1988, 1993, 1994, 1996

Associations

Student of Wilbur Gaffney

Bibliography

Selections. 1970.
Bell & Howl Presents ... 13. 1970.
Marcella: A Novel. 1973.
Dorothy Who. 1975.
Collected Short Works. 1984.
Eostre: Celebrations of Spring. 1989.
Great Plains Patchwork: A Memoir. 1989.
Ridin' the Rails: A Pastiche: 'Orphan Train' Stories & Poems. 1990.
A Cretan Cycle: Fragments Unearthed From Knossos. 1991.
Henrietta's Mother. 1992.
I Watched My Dad Beat Jimmy Hoffa. 1992.
Crafting the Classic Short Story: A Workbook. 1995.
Delicate Footsteps. 1995.
Mail-Order Kid: An Orphan Train Rider's Story. 2010.
Pricksongs: Poems from the Sixties. 2013.

Other works featured in
Atlantic Monthly. Dec 1974.
Potpourri. 1989.
Voices of the Plains. 1992.
Prairie Hearts: Women View the Midwest. 1996. (contributor)
Nebraska Presence: An Anthology of Poetry. 2007. (contributor)

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Marilyn June Coffey
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Do you have corrections for the above information or other information to add?:

(e.g. Author is buried in Fremont, not in David City / Also wrote for the Daily Nebraskan during her time as a student)