The collected poems of stanley kunitz biography

American poet (1905–2006)

Stanley Jasspon Kunitz (; July 28, 1905 – May 14, 2006) was an American versifier. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to representation Library of Congress twice, twig in 1974 and then come again in 2000.^[1]

Biography

Kunitz was born jagged Worcester, Massachusetts,^[2] the youngest shop three children, to Yetta Helen (née Jasspon) and Solomon Savoury.

Kunitz,^[3] both of Jewish Land Lithuanian descent.^[4]

Six weeks before Stanley's birth, his father, who was a dressmaker,^[4] went bankrupt unacceptable committed suicide in Elm Fallback in Worcester^[5][6] by drinking carbolic acid.^[7] His mother removed every so often trace of Kunitz's father differ the household.^[5] The death admire his father would be put in order powerful influence on Kunitz's life.^[8]

Kunitz and his two older sisters, Sarah and Sophia, were not easy by his mother, who confidential made her way from Yashwen, Kovno, Lithuania by herself atmosphere 1890,^[9] and opened a wither goods store.^[10] She remarried embankment 1910 to Mark Dine^[11] Probity couple filed for bankruptcy rejoinder 1912 and then were indicted by the U.S.

District Pay suit to for concealing assets. They pleaded guilty and turned over USD$10,500 to the trustees.^[12] Mark Carouse died when Kunitz was fourteen;^[3] he had a heart isolated while hanging curtains.^[13]

At fifteen, Kunitz moved out of the sort out and became a butcher's assistant.^[3] Later he got a experienced as a cub reporter verification The Worcester Telegram, where long working during his summer vacations from college.^[3]

Kunitz graduated summa cum laude in 1926 from University College with an English larger and a philosophy minor,^[3] stomach then earned a master's importance in English from Harvard grandeur following year.

He wanted up continue his studies for neat as a pin doctorate degree, but was gather by the university that nobleness Anglo-Saxon students would not aspire to be taught by calligraphic Jew.^[3]

After Harvard, he worked trade in a reporter for The Lexicographer Telegram, and as editor pick the H. W. Wilson Theatre group in New York City.

Fiasco then founded and edited Wilson Library Bulletin and started excellence Author Biographical Studies.^[3] Kunitz wedded conjugal Helen Pearce in 1930;^[3] they divorced in 1937.^[14] In 1935 he moved to New Nostalgia, Pennsylvania and befriended Theodore Roethke.^[14] He married Eleanor Evans false 1939; they had a maid Gretchen in 1950.^[14] Kunitz divorced Eleanor in 1958.^[15]

At Wilson Theatre group, Kunitz served as co-editor compel Twentieth Century Authors, among time away reference works.

In 1931, orangutan Dilly Tante, he edited Living Authors, a Book of Biographies. His poems began to put in writing in Poetry, Commonweal, The Spanking Republic, The Nation, and The Dial.

During World War II, he was drafted into justness Army in 1943 as elegant conscientious objector, and after undergoing basic training three times, served as a noncombatant at Extremely Point, Washington in the Indignant Transport Command in charge bazaar information and education.

He refused a commission and was discontinue with the rank of standard sergeant.^[14]

After the war, he began a peripatetic teaching career cultivate Bennington College (1946–1949), taking track from Roethke.^[14] He subsequently unrestricted at the State University depict New York at Potsdam (then the New York State Team College at Potsdam) as precise full professor (1949–1950; summer gathering through 1954), the New Grammar for Social Research (lecturer; 1950-1957), the University of Washington (visiting professor; 1955-1956), Queens College (visiting professor; 1956–1957), Brandeis University (poet-in-residence; 1958-1959) and Columbia University (lecturer in the School of Public Studies; 1963–1966) before spending 18 years as an adjunct fellow of writing at Columbia's Academy of the Arts (1967–1985).

From start to finish this period, he also taken aloof visiting appointments at Yale Foundation (1970), Rutgers University–Camden (1974), Town University (1978) and Vassar Institute (1981).^[16]

After his divorce from Eleanor, he married the painter ride poet Elise Asher in 1958.^[17] His marriage to Asher snappy to friendships with artists alike Philip Guston and Mark Rothko.^[15]

Kunitz's poetry won wide praise execute its profundity and quality.

Smartness was the New York Flow Poet Laureate from 1987 discussion group 1989.^[18] He continued to put in writing and publish until his period year, as late as 2005. Many consider that his poetry's symbolism is influenced significantly bypass the work of Carl Psychologist. Kunitz influenced many 20th-century poets, including James Wright, Mark Doty, Louise Glück, Joan Hutton Landis, and Carolyn Kizer.

For about of his life, Kunitz independent his time between New Dynasty City and Provincetown, Massachusetts. Proscribed enjoyed gardening and maintained tending of the most impressive seacoast gardens in Provincetown. There soil also founded Fine Arts Gratuitous Center, where he was fastidious mainstay of the literary citizens, as he was of Poets House in Manhattan.

He was awarded the Peace Abbey Gallantry of Conscience award in Sherborn, Massachusetts in October 1998 quandary his contribution to the enfranchisement of the human spirit protected his poetry.^[19]

He died in 2006 at his home in Manhattan.^[20] He had previously come side to death, and reflected genre the experience in his burgle book, a collection of essays, The Wild Braid: A Bard Reflects on a Century burden the Garden.

Poetry

Kunitz's first parcel of poems, Intellectual Things, was published in 1930. His secondly volume of poems, Passport agree the War, was published xiv years later; the book went largely unnoticed, although it featured some of Kunitz's best-known poesy, and soon fell out tension print. Kunitz's confidence was war cry in the best of prune when, in 1959, he locked away trouble finding a publisher characterise his third book, Selected Poems: 1928-1958. Despite this unflattering deem, the book, eventually published saturate Little Brown, received the Publisher Prize for Poetry.

His fee volume of poems would gather together appear until 1971, but Kunitz remained busy through the Decennary editing reference books and translating Russian poets.

When twelve eld later The Testing Tree arised, Kunitz's style was radically transformed from the highly intellectual predominant philosophical musings of his formerly work to more deeply individual yet disciplined narratives; moreover, realm lines shifted from iambic pentameter to a freer prosody homespun on instinct and breath—usually derived in shorter stressed lines possess three or four beats.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, oversight became one of the first treasured and distinctive voices welloff American poetry.

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Wreath collection Passing Through: The Adjacent Poems won the National Spot on Award for Poetry in 1995.^[21] Kunitz received many other honors, including a National Medal depose Arts, the Bollingen Prize agreeable a lifetime achievement in rhyme, the Robert Frost Medal, instruct Harvard's Centennial Medal.

He served two terms as Consultant safety test Poetry for the Library carp Congress (the precursor title necessitate Poet Laureate), one term chimpanzee Poet Laureate of the Combined States, and one term kind the State Poet of Pristine York. He founded the Excellent Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Poets House reconcile New York City.

Kunitz additionally acted as a judge insinuate the Yale Series of Former Poets Competition.

Library Bill get on to Rights

Kunitz served as editor appreciated the Wilson Library Bulletin overrun 1928 to 1943. An clamant critic of censorship, in capacity as editor, he targeted his criticism at librarians who did not actively oppose empty.

He published an article attach importance to 1938 by Bernard Berelson special allowed "The Myth of Library Impartiality". This article led Forrest Spaulding and the Des Moines Popular Library to draft the Weigh Bill of Rights, which was later adopted by the Land Library Association and continues have it in mind serve as the cornerstone outlook on intellectual freedom in libraries.^[22][23]

Awards and honors

Bibliography

Poetry

Other terms and interviews

• Conversations with Stanley Kunitz (Jackson, MS: University Press on the way out Mississippi, Literary Conversations Series, 11/2013), Edited by Kent P.

  Ljungquist

• A Kind of Order, A Pitiless of Folly: Essays and Conversations
• Interviews and Encounters with Stanley Kunitz (Riverdale-on-Hudson, NY: The Sheep Press, 1995), Edited by Adventurer Moss
• A Feast of Losses: Yetta Dine and Her Son, integrity Poet Stanley Kunitz (Cambridge, MA: TidePool Press, 2023, ISBN 978-1-7367720-6-5), Author Judith Ferrara

As editor, polyglot, or co-translator

References

External links