2013 Michigan Author Award Winner – Laura Kasischke

MLA is pleased to announce that Laura Kasischke is the winner of the 2013 Michigan Author Award. Laura will accept her award at MLA 2013 Annual Conference in Lansing, Michigan.

Laura is a prolific author and poet. She has written eight novels, two of which, The Life Before Her Eyes and Suspicious River, were made into feature films. She has also authored eight books of poetry and received the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry in 2012. She has been the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as several Pushcart Prizes and numerous poetry awards. Her writing has appeared in Best American Poetry, The Kenyon Review, Harper’s and The New Republic.

Laura has strong ties to the state of Michigan. She grew up in Grand Rapids and currently resides in Chelsea. She is also an Allan Seager Colleagiate Professor of English Language & Literature at the University of Michigan. Throughout her diverse body of work, Laura ties her characters to the state of Michigan. These connections and her creative gift make Laura a perfect fit for this award.

A panel of judges representing Michigan Library Association members and the Michigan Center for the Book determined the recipient on overall literary merit. To receive the award authors must be a current resident of Michigan, a long-time resident of Michigan, recently relocated, or an author whose works are identified with Michigan because of subject and/or setting in Michigan.

Past Michigan Author Award Winners include: Dan Gerber, Charles Baxter, Nancy Willard, Janet Kauffman, Elmore Leonard, Loren Estleman, Gloria Whelan, Jerry Dennis, Janie Lynn Panagopoulos, Thomas Lynch, Nicholas Delbanco, Diane Wakoski, Patricia Polacco, Christopher Paul Curtis, Steve Hamilton, Sarah Stewart, Tom Stanton, Dave Dempsey, John Smolens, Gary Schmidt and Bonnie Jo Campbell.

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