Photo credit: Nathan Burton 

Marianne Monson is a women's history author known for unearthing remarkable stories of incredible women. She is the author of twelve books for children and adults, with an emphasis on frontier-era women's history.   Her nonfiction book Frontier Grit was nominated for the American Library Association's Amelia Bloomer award. The companion volume, Women of the Blue and Gray was released in 2018 and was awarded a silver medal by Foreword Reviews. Her newest historical fiction novel, The Opera Sisters, is based on the true story of Ida and Louise Cook, who helped refugees escape from Nazi Germany. Her poetry and prose have appeared in: Rain Magazine, Hipfish, Coast Weekend, Northwest Review, and Our Coast Magazine.

Marianne holds an MFA  from Vermont College of Fine Arts and has taught writing at a number of colleges and universities. She is founder of a literary nonprofit, The Writer's Guild, and co-host of the radio show River Writers on KMUN.  She's interviewed many popular authors including Randall Sullivan, Cheryl Strayed, Karl Marlantes, and Jericho Brown.