FAQ

Marianne Kunkel is a poet, professor and piemaker based in Kansas City, MO. She is the author of Hillary, Made Up (Stephen F. Austin State University Press) and The Laughing Game (Finishing Line Press), and her work has appeared in Best American Poetry, The Threepenny Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and many other journals. She is an Associate Professor of English at Johnson County Community College and winner of Frontier Poetry’s 2024 OPEN Prize. She writes about appetite in all its forms.

Food poetry is a genre that uses food — its preparation, its rituals and its pleasures — as a lens for exploring human experience. It sits at the intersection of the textual and the tactile, the sensory and the emotional. Marianne’s work treats pie and poetry as parallel crafts: both made by hand, both meant to be shared.

A selection of Marianne’s published poems are available to read on the Poems page of this site, with links to the original publications. Her work has appeared online in Frontier Poetry, Rattle, Sonora Review, SWWIM, Atticus Review and others.

Yes. Marianne is available for poetry panels, conference appearances and readings, for both virtual and in-person engagements. She is particularly interested in conversations around food poetry and the intersection of creative and academic life. Visit the Speaking and Panels page or use the contact form to inquire about availability.

Marianne speaks on food poetry as a genre and more. She has presented at conferences and literary events and is an experienced, engaging speaker.

Yes. Marianne bakes to order in the Kansas City, MO area, with a rotating selection of seasonal pies. Please allow at least 72 hours notice. To ask about ordering, use the contact form on the Pies page or follow along on Instagram at @asliceofpoetry to see what’s coming out of the oven.

Marianne is based in Kansas City, MO.

Publications and Awards

Best American Poetry is one of the most prestigious annual anthologies in American literature, selecting the year’s finest poems from journals and magazines across the country. Marianne’s poem “Apostate Abecedarian,” originally published in The Threepenny Review, was selected for inclusion in the 2025 edition.

The Frontier Poetry OPEN is a highly competitive annual prize open to all poets. Marianne won the 2024 prize for her poem “To the Man who Hugged Me after I Rear-ended Him,” selected from thousands of submissions by Frontier’s editors.