Kurt Olsson has published two collections of poetry. His second, Burning Down Disneyland (Gunpowder Press), won the 2016 Barry Spacks Prize. Of the book, contest judge Thomas Lux wrote, “I love the title of this book . . . and I love the innovative mischief of its poems. Let it be known: a true poetic intelligence and imagination live between its covers.”

Olsson’s first collection, What Kills What Kills Us, won the Gerald Cable Book Award and was published by Silverfish Review Press in 2007. In 2008, the book was awarded the Towson University Prize for Literature, given annually to the best book published the previous year by a Maryland writer, as well as named Best Poetry Book of 2008 by Peace Corps Writers.

Olsson’s poems have appeared in many journals, including Poetry, FIELD, The New Republic, Alaska Quarterly Review, Southern Review, Cincinatti Review, Poetry East, and The Threepenny Review. He also has three chapbooks to his credit: Terra Incognita, I Know Your Heart, Hieronymus Bosch, and Autobiography of My Hand.