Marianne Manzler is a writer, educator, and editor based in Minneapolis, MN. Her essay “On the Making of a Mumu,” which originally appeared in Fourth Genre, received a notable mention in Best American Essays 2022, edited by Alexander Chee. Her work can also be found in fine publications such as The Seventh Wave magazine and 5280, and she has received fellowships and residencies from Sundress Publications, Anderson Center, Vermont Studio Center, and Martha's Institute for Creative Writing. She’s currently a prose reader for Quarterly West, a grants program advisor for the Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Program Manager of Education at the Loft Literary Center, where she collaborates with thousands of writers and readers across the world.
Marianne earned a BA in English at The Ohio State University and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington, where she was the recipient of the Grace Milliman Pollock Fellowship. She also co-founded the Black Jaw Literary Series, co-edited The Seattle Review, and won UW’s Eugene Van Buren Fiction Award during her time there. Within the past decade, she has served as a Fulbright scholar, AmeriCorps member, and Urban Leaders Policy Fellow. She’s at work on her first book of essays about identity, family, illness, and the culture of silence.