Juanita Brunk

Juanita Brunk was born in Newport News, Virginia. She attended Eastern Mennonite High School in Harrisonburg, Virginia. After graduating from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Brunk received her MFA from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. 

Brunk has published one volume of poetry, Brief Landing on the Earth’s Surface (1996). Her poems have been published in various poetry journals, including American Poetry Review, Passages North, Cimmarron Review, Southern Poetry Review, and Poet Lore. She has also been published in Mennonot, a Mennonite humor magazine.

Brunk received the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s first Creative Writing Fellowship in 1986-1987. Brief Landing on the Earth’s Surface was selected by Philip Levine to receive the Brittingham Prize from the University of Wisconsin Press. Brunk also received the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writer’s Award for the volume.

Erin Brandeberry