Carol Muske-Dukes (born 1945 in

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and professor, and the former poet laureate of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

(2008–2011). Her most recent book of poetry, ''Sparrow'' (Random House, 2003), chronicling the love and loss of Muske-Dukes’ late husband, actor David Dukes, was a National Book Award finalist.

Life

Muske-Dukes grew up in

Forest Lake, Minnesota Forest Lake is a city in Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County, Minnesota, United States, located 27 miles northeast of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul. The population was 20,611 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Histor ...

. She received B.A. English from

Creighton University Creighton University () is a private research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate ...

in 1967, and her M.A. in 1970 from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

. She has taught in the graduate writing programs at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

, the

University of California at Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 ...

, and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. She is one of the founding members of the USC PhD in Creative Writing & Literature, where she currently teaches. She has a daughter, Annie Muske-Dukes, who graduated from USC in May 2005, and she is the widow of actor

David Dukes David Coleman Dukes (June 6, 1945 – October 9, 2000) was an American character actor. He had a long career in films, appearing in 35. Dukes starred in the miniseries ''The Winds of War (miniseries), The Winds of War'' and ''War and Remembrance ...

, who died in 2000. In addition to her seven books of poetry, she has published four novels, the most recent of which, ''Channeling Mark Twain'' (2007), is about a woman poet who teaches poetry at a women's detention facility, just as the author herself did and the perspectives she gains from the poetry her students write. Her work has appeared in ''Antaeus'', ''Ploughshares'', ''Paris Review'', and ''The New Yorker.''

Awards

* 1979 Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award of the Poetry Society of America * 1981

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

* 1999

Witter Bynner Fellowship Witter Bynner Fellowships are administered by the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, an organization that provides grant support for poetry programs through nonprofit organizations. Fellows are chosen by ...

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Fellowship in Poetry * Ingram Merrill grant

Published works

Poetry collections * * * * * * * * Twin Cities. Penguin Books. May 31, 2011 * Blue Rose. Penguin Books. April 3, 2018 Collaborative works * Novels * * * * Essay collections * ''Women & Poetry: Truth, Autobiography, and the Shape of the Self'' (University of Michigan Press, 1997) * Anthologies * * * *

References

Sources

Library of Congress Online Catalog : Carol Muske-Dukes

External links

Author Website

Random House : Author Page : Carol Muske-Dukes

Audio: NPR ''Fresh Air'' : Interview: ''Carol Muske-Dukes, Channeling Mark Twain''

Audio: ''Bookworm'' : Michael Silverblatt Interviews Carol-Muske-Dukes About ''Channeling Mark Twain'' : Dec. 20, 2007

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muske-Dukes, Carol 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American women novelists Columbia University faculty Writers from Saint Paul, Minnesota 1945 births Living people Poets from California Creighton University alumni San Francisco State University alumni Poets from Minnesota National Endowment for the Arts Fellows Poets laureate of California American women poets American women essayists 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets 20th-century American essayists 21st-century American essayists Novelists from Minnesota University of Southern California faculty