Marilyn Krysl

Marilyn Krysl was born on February 26, 1942 in Anthony, Kansas. At 13, her family moved to Eugene, Oregon where she attended high school and won the Oregon Award for Creativity for her poetry, providing a full tuition scholarship to the University of Oregon. During her time at the UO, she won the Alicia Woods Poetry Award, the Julia Burgess Poetry Award, the Peter Pauper Press Essay Prize, and the Ernest Haycox Short Story Prize. She subsequently earned an MFA from the University of Oregon.

Krysl authored eight collections of poetry, including Swear the Burning Vow: Selected and New Poems (Ghost Road Press, 2009) and Warscape with Lovers (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1997), winner of the Cleveland State Poetry Prize in 1997. Her short story collection, Dinner with Osama (University of Notre Dame Press, 2008), received the 2008 Richard T. Sullivan Award in Short Fiction. Krysl was the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, as well as the Karen Chamberlain Lifetime Achievement Award for Poetry in Colorado.

In 1975, Krysl co-founded the University of Colorado Creative writing program, and later served as the Director. Krysl was involved in many humanitarian efforts, including the Peace Brigade International in Sri Lanka, Mother Teresa’s Kalighat Home for the Destitute and Dying in Calcutta, and the Lost Boys of Sudan in Denver. She died on July 4, 2024, in Boulder.