Karen Holmberg
Karen Holmberg earned an MA in Slavic languages and literatures from the University of Southern California, an MFA from the University of California-Irvine, and a PhD in English and creative writing from the University of Missouri. She is the author of The Perseids (2001), winner of the Vassar Miller Prize in poetry, and Axis Mundi (2012), which won the John Ciardi Prize. Her other honors include a Discovery/The Nation award.
Interested in the intersections of lyric and creative nonfiction, poetry and science, and letterpress printing and visual space, Holmberg has compared her writing process to “sketching.” In an interview she noted, “The most difficult part of writing for me is resisting the urge to push and force the poem into some form that’s alien to it. I love the sensation of gradually becoming so absorbed and invested in solving the puzzle of the poem that writing no longer registers as difficult. Then I know I will get it right.” Holmberg is an associate professor at Oregon State University.
Interested in the intersections of lyric and creative nonfiction, poetry and science, and letterpress printing and visual space, Holmberg has compared her writing process to “sketching.” In an interview she noted, “The most difficult part of writing for me is resisting the urge to push and force the poem into some form that’s alien to it. I love the sensation of gradually becoming so absorbed and invested in solving the puzzle of the poem that writing no longer registers as difficult. Then I know I will get it right.” Holmberg is an associate professor at Oregon State University.