Jeanne Larsen
Encyclopedia
Jeanne Larsen is a poet, novelist, translator, and essayist. Much of her work shows the growing influence of Buddhist perspectives on U.S. literature. This includes not only the poetry and creative nonfiction, but also the novels in her Avalokiteśvara trilogy.
, Virginia
, Pennsylvania
and Germany
. A graduate of Oberlin College
, she received her M.A.
from Hollins College and her Ph.D.
in Comparative Literature from The University of Iowa. She has also lived, worked, and studied in Taiwan
and Japan
. In 1980, she moved to the Roanoke Valley
of Virginia in the United States
, where she teaches literature and creative writing at Hollins University
.
Fellowship (literary translation), the William L. Crawford Award
for the year’s best new novelist from the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and student prizes from the Academy of American Poets
.
She has also received residency fellowships from the Millay Colony for the Arts
, the Byrdcliffe Artists Colony, Ragdale, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Eastern Frontier Society, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. The School for Criticism and Theory and the American Council of Learned Societies
/Mellon Foundation have awarded her academic fellowships, and she first went to Taiwan on an Oberlin Shansi teaching-study fellowship.
Biography
Larsen grew up on U.S. Army posts in KansasKansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. A graduate of Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, she received her M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
from Hollins College and her Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in Comparative Literature from The University of Iowa. She has also lived, worked, and studied in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. In 1980, she moved to the Roanoke Valley
Roanoke Valley
The Roanoke Valley in southwest Virginia is an area adjacent to and including the Roanoke River between the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Appalachian Plateau to the west...
of Virginia in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where she teaches literature and creative writing at Hollins University
Hollins University
Hollins University is a four-year institution of higher education, a private university located on a campus on the border of Roanoke County, Virginia and Botetourt County, Virginia...
.
Published works
- Why We Make Gardens (& Other Poems) (poetry). Mayapple Press, 2010.
- Willow, Wine, Mirror, Moon: Women’s Poems from Tang China (literary translations). BOA Editions, Ltd., 2005.
- These Gardens (art book; poems by Jeanne Larsen, drawings by Jan Knipe) privately printed limited edition, 2003.
- Manchu Palaces (novel). Henry Holt & Co., October 1996; abridged audiotape version: Audio Literature, 1997.
- Bronze Mirror (novel). Henry Holt & Co 1991;, Book of the Month Club 1991; Fawcett (paperback) 1992; Mondadori (Italy) 1992; Centrum (Denmark) 1992. [Bronze Mirror, an opera based on this book, libretto & score by Milton Granger, was premiered by the Georgia State University School of Music, April 19 & 20, 2002]
- Silk Road (novel). Henry Holt & Co. 1989; Heinemann (U.K.) 1989; Book of the Month Club 1989; Fawcett (U.S. paperback) 1990; Mandarin (U.K. paperback) 1991; Centrum (Denmark) 1990; Rizzoli (Italy) 1990; Heyne (Germany) 1991; Divisione Euroclub Italia (Italy) 1991.
- Engendering the Word: Feminist Essays in Psychosexual Poetics (literary criticism). Temma F. Berg, ed.; co-editors, Anna Shannon Elfenbein, Jeanne Larsen, Elisa Kay Sparks. University of Illinois Press, 1989
- Brocade River Poems: Selected Works of the Tang Dynasty Courtesan Xue Tao (literary translations) Princeton University Press, 1987.
- James Cook in Search of Terra Incognita: A Book of Poems. University Press of Virginia (Associated Writing Programs Poetry Series), 1979.
Awards
Larsen is the recipient of a Japan/U.S. Friendship Commission Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship (creative nonfiction), an Individual Artist Fellowship (fiction) from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, a National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Fellowship (literary translation), the William L. Crawford Award
Crawford Award
The IAFA William L. Crawford Fantasy Award is a literary award given to a writer whose first fantasy book was published during the preceding 18 months. It's one of several awards presented by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts , and is presented at the conference each...
for the year’s best new novelist from the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts and student prizes from the Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
.
She has also received residency fellowships from the Millay Colony for the Arts
Millay Colony for the Arts
The Millay Colony for the Arts is an artist residency program in Austerlitz, New York. The colony offers one month residencies to visual artists, writers, poets and composers. The Millay Colony for the Arts was founded in 1973 by Norma Millay Ellis, sister of the poet Edna St...
, the Byrdcliffe Artists Colony, Ragdale, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, the Eastern Frontier Society, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. The School for Criticism and Theory and the American Council of Learned Societies
American Council of Learned Societies
The American Council of Learned Societies , founded in 1919, is a private nonprofit federation of seventy scholarly organizations.ACLS is best known as a funder of humanities research through fellowships and grants awards. ACLS Fellowships are designed to permit scholars holding the Ph.D...
/Mellon Foundation have awarded her academic fellowships, and she first went to Taiwan on an Oberlin Shansi teaching-study fellowship.
External links
- Jeanne Larsen’s home page
- Review of Silk Road from DannyReviews.com
- Reviews of Bronze Mirror and Manchu Palaces from DannyReviews.com
- Review of Willow, Wine, Mirror, Moon from a personal blog
- Review of Brocade River Poems from JSTOR.org
- http://therumpus.net/2011/03/you-know-butterflies-semaphore-graces-it review of "Why We Make Gardens" from therumpus.net