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Margaret Rampton Munk

The daughter of Utah’s three-term governor Calvin L. Rampton and Lucy Beth Cardon, Margaret “Meg” Rampton Munk grew up “in a family of Mormon pioneer ancestry.” After graduating from the University of Utah, where she first began writing poetry, Meg went to Harvard for graduate work in political science. She met Russell Munk while working in Washington, D.C., following her freshman year of college, and they were later married while in graduate school. Russ’s work took them to Japan for two years and then to the Philippines for five. Meg taught political science classes at Jesuit universities in both Tokyo and Manila. While in the Philippines, the Munks adopted their children Laura and Dan, and Meg’s focus became her family. Most of her poems dealt with her personal experiences, and several were published in Exponent II. After returning to the United States, the Munks adopted a third child, Andrew. In 1983, Meg was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After undergoing surgery and a year of chemotherapy she wrote the poem sequence “One Year.” The cancer proved fatal in 1986. Her collection of poetry, So Far (1986), was published just before her death. Beginning in 1990 Dialogue inaugurated the Margaret Rampton Munk award in poetry. [adapted from Discoveries: Two Centuries of Poems by Mormon Women, 109-10] Included in 75 Significant Mormon Poets
Margaret R. Munk, Margaret Munk
LDS
LDS (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
See the tributes written about Margaret Munk by Karen Rosenbaum and Mary Bradford
1941
1986-07-07
University of Utah M.A., Ph.D. (Political Science) Harvard University
Editor of the University of Utah\'s Daily Utah Chronicle. After graduating from Harvard, taught political science at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and American University in Washington D.C. She served on the editorial board of Dialogue
A devoutly religious person, active in the Mormon church and mother to three children, Meg never abandoned her writing which revealed a belief that, in every aspect of life, questions are essential. [Sunstone tribute, 10.12 (Oct. 1986) p. 42]
Female
Author
English

25 Works by Margaret Rampton Munk

Title Role Year Genre
The Fire Author Short Story
Three Portraits of Women from the Old Testament Author 1974 Poetry
Caridad Author 1977 Fiction
Two Children Author Poetry
For My Baby: A Postscript to Wordsworth Author Poetry
First Grief Author 2018 Poetry
For Dad and Mother Author Poetry
Mother's Day Author Poetry
A Skeptic's Prayer Author Poetry
Stars Author Poetry
One Year Author 1985 Poetry
A Proposal Author Short Story
So Far: Poems Author 1986 Poetry
Sonnet in a Moment of Truth Author Poetry
Psalm: A Skeptics Prayer Author Poetry
For Russ Author Poetry
Searching Author 1981 Fiction
Service Under Stress Author Personal Essay
October Prayer Author Poetry
An Historical Vignette Author Short Story
For Corazon Aquino Author Poetry
In a Baltimore Variety Store Author Poetry
Kinship Author Poetry
For Christa McAuliffe Author Poetry
Mother's Day Author Poetry
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