Koan Anne Brink

Writing Associate

Kōan Anne Brink earned their BA in English and Creative Writing from Barnard College, and their MFA in Poetry from Columbia University, where they were a Teaching Fellow and studied Buddhist texts for an additional year at Union Theological Seminary. Kōan was selected as a 2019 Seminary Fellow with Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE). Their recent poems have appeared or are forthcoming in places such as Lambda Literary, Narrative Magazine, WUSSY, and Washington Square Review. In addition to being an Associate in the Center for Writing, Kōan is also the Art Writing Fellow in the School of Art.o̅/p>

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.