A Sketch of MARILYN COFFEY as Poet


My best-known poem, “Pricksong,” received the national Pushcart Prize in 1976. It was first published in Aphra, New York, NY, June 1975. In 1994, Parnassus of World Poets, an international anthology in India, reprinted it.

Bandanna Press, Santa Barbara CA, published my book-length poem, A Cretan Cycle: Fragments Unearthed from Knossos, in 1991. The poem retells, from a feminist perspective, the myth of Theseus killing the Minotaur. In Lawrence, KS, the same year, five black-robed readers performed the poem. As they read, they brandished colorful oversized papier-mâché masks, one for each of the poem’s twelve characters.

In addition to “Pricksong” and A Cretan Cycle, more than seventy of my poems have been published, many in journals such as New American Revie, Sunbury, New England Journal, and Manhattan Poetry Review and others in newspapers, newsletters, or anthologies. I’m also the author of a novel, a memoir, four chapbooks, and hundreds of articles and stories. My writing has appeared in England, Australia, India, Japan, Canada, Denmark, as well as the U.S.

The University of Nebraska named me a Master Alumnus for distinction in writing in 1977.

I like to read – and sometimes perform – my poetry. I’ve read in more than 30 different venues in six states (New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska). These readings have been held in coffee houses, literature festivals, book stores, colleges, taverns, galleries, churches and radio stations, including WBAI in New York City. Recently, I was featured at the Great Bend, Kansas, Poetry Rendezvous, in its 18th year. When performing, I have dressed as a failed gambler (male) to recite my “Ol’ Mister Hindsight,” appeared gowned as “Eostre” for my Easter poem, and donned a negligee to read my “Lady Plume” sexual poems.

Twice I’ve teamed up with visual artists. Initially, artist Renae Taylor selected some of my poems and created art pieces based on my writing. When her work was shown at the Antiquarium Gallery in Omaha, I read the chosen poems there. Later, I joined four other artists – Judy Greff, Sammy Lynn, Amy Sadle, Patsy Smith -- to create Needles & Threads: An Interpretative Art Exhibit. My contribution was a chapbook, Delicate Footsteps, containing poems I’d written based on our mutual interviews with women.

I began writing poetry in 1958 when I studied with Wilbur Gaffney. Later, I studied with William Packard and Allen Ginsberg. I’m a graduate of the University of Nebraska 1959 and received a MFA in creative writing from Brooklyn College in 1981.

The Archives, University of Nebraska Libraries, Lincoln, NE, holds my manuscripts in its Marilyn Coffey Collection.

  • The Cretan Cycle
  • Delicate Footsteps
  • Eostre
  • Potpourri

Poetry Works in Progress:



Recently Published Poetry:

  • "To the Critic," ByLine Magazine, a magazine for writers, December issue 2006

  • "Leaf," a reprint, in Tapestries, an anthology for seniors, 2006

  • 3 poems, "Correspondences," "Count-Down," "Taste," Celebrate Vol. XI, part of a University of Nebraska-Omaha program for women, 2006

  • "Ineffable," a response to 9/11, Fine Lines magazine, Omaha, 2006

  • "Peace March 1967," an anti-war poem, published on-line, Omega 6, Howling Dog Press, 2006

See my published poetry.

Contact Me.


MARILYN JUNE COFFEY
Great Plains Writer