Kristen Iversen is the author of Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Award and the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence, and Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth, winner of the Colorado Book Award and the Barbara Sudler Award for Nonfiction. Full Body Burden was chosen by Kirkus Reviews and the American Library Association as one of the Best Books of 2012 and named 2012 Best Book about Justice by The Atlantic. Iversen’s work has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, Reader’s Digest, and many other publications. She has appeared on C-Span and NPR’s Fresh Air and worked extensively with A&E Biography, The History Channel, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She holds a Ph.D from the University of Denver and is an associate professor at the University of Memphis, where she directs the MFA program in creative writing.
Kristen Iversen grew up in Arvada, Colorado, near the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant, and later worked at the facility herself. She has two sons and currently lives in Memphis.
AWARDS, GRANTS, & HONORS
-Louise Eisenhardt Award for creative and academic achievement, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, April 2011.
-Creative Arts Fellowship, Colorado Art Ranch, 2009, 2010.
-Finalist, The Iowa Review Award for Nonfiction, 2006.
-Early Career Research Award and Faculty Research Grant for Full Body Burden: Growing Up in the Nuclear Shadow of Rocky Flats, The University of Memphis, 2005, 2006.
-Colorado Endowment for the Humanities Prize for Chatelaine (essay), 2004.
-Creative Arts Fellowship, San Jose Arts Council, San Jose, California, 2003.
-Colorado Book Award for Biography, the Fifth Biennial Barbara Sudler Award for Nonfiction, and finalist for the WILLA Award in Nonfiction for Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth.
-Finalist, The Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, 1993, The Shape of a Secret (short stories), University of Georgia Press.
-Arts Fellowship, Rocky Mountain Women’s Institute, Denver, Colorado, 1992.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
-“How to Be Tough in Creative Nonfiction.” The Art of Friction II: (Meta)Writing in (Non)Fiction. Jill Talbot, ed. University of Iowa Press, 2012.
-“An Interview with Kristen Iversen.” The Art of Friction II: (Meta)Writing in (Non)Fiction. Jill Talbot, ed. University of Iowa Press, 2012.
-“Kristen Iversen: Roaming Writer.” Skirt Magazine. June 2010.
-“Crash.” The Normal School. California State University, Fresno. Fall 2010.
-“Final Cut.” Telling Stories Out of Court. Ed. Ruth O’Brien. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2008.
-“Explorations in Nonfiction: A Discussion with Kristen Iversen, John Calderazzo, and Michael Gorra.” Robert Root, editor. The Fourth Genre. 2006.
DOCUMENTARIES BASED ON IVERSEN’S WORK
-Molly Brown: Biography of a Changing Nation. National Endowment for the Arts, Historic Denver, and the Molly Brown House Museum, 2008.
-Molly Brown: An American Original. Arts and Entertainment (A & E) Biography, 1997.
-Molly Brown. Great Museums (PBS). 2004.
-What Happened After: The Titanic Survivors. The History Channel, 2001.
-The Life and Legend of Molly Brown. Knowledge Television, Echo Productions, August 1999.
-Beyond Titanic. A & E Biography, March 1998.
-America’s Castles: The Story of Molly Brown. A & E Network, August 1998.
