Courtney Kampa, an award-winning novelist, and poet died abruptly this weekend. Will Anderson, her husband, verified the news on Tuesday, November 15. Kampa was a Nashville resident who lived with her husband and two dogs, Eddie and Georgie. She was a writing and poetry instructor in Nashville. There were unsubstantiated allegations of her death in a vehicle accident, but the world didn’t find out until Anderson confirmed the reports.
“She was always my ideal girl,” says Courtney Kampa’s husband.
Wil Anderson, a musician, announced his wife’s death on his Instagram account @willyj1234, however, he did not specify the reason. The post included a photo of the pair, who were dressed in similar gray sweatshirts. Anderson revealed the news to his 327k followers in a heartfelt remark, remembering Courtney Kampa for being brilliant, humorous, and kind. He concluded the little text by declaring his love for her.
Kampa’s death is alleged to have been caused by a horrible vehicle accident in which one other person died. Fellow novelist and writer Elizabeth Foss expressed her grief at the deaths of Kampa and Irene Starrs in a Facebook post.
She stated:
“Sorrow on top of grief. And the pain remains unsaid. Because I can’t make sense of it all, this is a nonsensical post. Please pray for the repose of Irene Starrs’ and Courtney Kampa’s souls. Please, please pray for the comfort of those who love them.”
Although the death has been verified, no more information has been released.
Kampa’s writing career
Courtney Kampa was born in Virginia and reared there. She earned her bachelor’s degree at the University of Virginia and her master’s degree at Columbia University. Kampa was also a Wallace Stegner Fellowship scholar at Stanford University from 2017 to 2019. She began her career as a ballet dancer before transitioning to writing.
Kampa was a prolific writer with a number of works to her credit. She was included in several prestigious periodicals, including the Boston Review, the Journal, the Atlantic, Poets & Writers magazine, and the National Poetry Review. She published her first book, Our Lady of Not Asking Why, which was a compilation of her poems.
Her writing has received several honors, including the Rattle Poetry Prize Readers’ Choice Award in 2014, and she was a Ruth Lily Prize nominee in 2016. Mary Szybist chose Our Lady of Not Asking Why for the New Issues Press First Book Award.
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