Background

Karen Osborn was born on April 26, 1954, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, to Kenton Osborn, a chemist, and Lois (Mays) Osborn.

Education

Osborn earned her bachelor's degree from the Hollins College (now Hollins University) in 1979. Four years later she became Master of Fine Arts at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Career

Osborn worked as a poet at the Arkansas Poetry Schools from 1979 till 1983. That same year she joined the Clemson University as an instructor of English, staying at that educational institution till 1987. For 5 years from 1988, Osborn served as a part-time instructor of English at the University of Kentucky. She also held the position of a technical writer at the Clark Equipment, Inc. in 1990. That same year she was appointed as a consultant of adjunct writing program for Engineering College, that work lasted till 1992.

Currently, Osborn leds writing workshops and gives readings for numerous schools and organizations including the Writer’s Voice, the Augusta Round Table, the Southern Festival of Books, the Women Writer’s Conference and the Bookfest. Osborn is a contributor of poems to numerous periodicals, such as the Artemis, the Mid American Review, the Seattle Review, the Tar River Poetry and the Southern Review, the Kansas Quarterly, the Montana Review, the Centennial Review and the Wisconsin Review.

Her writings include novels Patchwork, Between Earth and Sky, The River Road and Centerville. Osborn’s Between Earth and Sky spins a tale of the trials and triumphs of a remarkable woman’s efforts to carve out a new life for her family in New Mexico. Told through letters, the book reflects the raw beauty of the Southwest in the period following the American Civil War. Osborn's other books are influenced by the raw power of nature, as well.

Achievements

• Osborn became the winner of Hollins Literary Festival Awards for poetry and for fiction, both in 1979. That same year she received the Nancy Thorp Prize for Poetry, as well as Mary Vincent Long Award, for her distinguished literary achievement. Osborn won McKean Award for Poetry in 1981. Ten years later she earned the Kentucky Foundation for Women grant, to fund work on the book Between Earth and Sky, and Smith Artists Fellowship Award for Fiction from Kentucky Arts Council. In 1991, Osborn received also Notable Book Award from New York Times for her Patchwork.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Patchwork

    (Described by the New York Times Book Review as a deeply p...)

    1991
  • Between Earth & Sky 1996
  • The River Road 2002
  • Centerville 2012

Personality

Quotes from others about the person

• "With grace and poetry, Osborn explores how the biggest emotions are sometimes found in the smallest seconds--and how a single moment might be the switchback that changes our lives." - Jodi Picoult

Connections

Osborn is married to Michael Jenkins since May 21, 1983. The couple has 2 children - Kaitlynn and Shannon.

Father:

Kenton Osborn

Mother:

Lois (Mays) Osborn

child:

Kaitlynn Jenkins

child:

Shannon Jenkins

husband:

Michael Jenkins

He is an assistant athletic director.