Karol Nielsen

Karol Nielsen is the author of the memoirs Raising the Price of the House (Finishing Line Press), Walking A&P (Mascot Books), and Black Elephants (Bison Books). Her first memoir, Black Elephants, was shortlisted for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing in nonfiction and was selected as a Poets & Writers new and noteworthy book. Excerpts were honored as notable essays in The Best American Essays. 

Her poetry chapbooks include Small Life, Vietnam Made Me Who I Am, and This Woman I Thought I’d Be—all from Finishing Line Press. Her forthcoming collection, Cowgirl (Finishing Line Press), was a semifinalist for the New Women’s Voices Chapbook Competition. Her full-length manuscript, This New Manhattan, was longlisted for the Terry J. Cox Poetry Award and was a finalist for the Colorado Prize for Poetry. Her title poem was a finalist for the Ruth Stone Poetry Prize.

Her work has been published in The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous & Obscure (Harper Perennial) and other anthologies. Her memoir excerpts, essays, and poems have appeared in Epiphany, Guernica, Lumina, North Dakota Quarterly, Permafrost, RiverSedge, Smith, and elsewhere. Her poetry book reviews have appeared in Glass: A Journal of Poetry.