Paul Mariani



Paul Mariani (born 1940 in New York City) is an American poet and a professor at Boston College.

Born in New York City, he grew up on Long Island, the eldest of seven children. He earned his bachelor's degree from Manhattan College in 1962, a Master's from Colgate University, and a Ph.D. from the City University of New York.

His published work includes biographies: on the confessional poets Robert Lowell (Lost Puritan) and John Berryman (Dream Song); on William Carlos Williams (A New World Naked, which was nominated for the American Book Award); and, most recently, on the poet Hart Crane (The Broken Tower). He has also published six books of poetry: Timing Devices, Crossing Cocytus, Prime Mover, Salvage Operations: New and Selected Poems, The Great Wheel, and Deaths & Transfigurations. His latest book is a biography of Gerard Manley Hopkins (2008).

Recognition
He has been honored with fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Publications

 * Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Life. Viking/Penguin (New York, November 2008), 496 pp. Second Printing, November 22, 2008. Editors’ Choice, NYTBR, December 19: “Mariani writes with a deep, sympathetic knowledge of the poet’s sometimes dauntingly esoteric religious and aesthetic concerns.” Washington Post: Best Books of 2008. Favorable reviews in NYTBR, Michael Dirda of The Washington Post, LA Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Atlantic Monthly, Books & Culture, Editors’ Choice, NY Times, The New Yorker (May 11, 2009). Book of the Week.
 * Deaths & Transfigurations: Poems. Paraclete Press, July 2005. Designed & with engravings by Barry Moser. 96 pp.
 * God and the Imagination: Poetry, Poets, and the Ineffable. University of Georgia Press, July 2002. 285 pp. Hardcover and paperback editions.
 * Thirty Days: On Retreat with the Exercises of St. Ignatius. New York: Viking/Penguin, March 2002. 287 pp. Main selection of Catholic Book Club, February 2002. Paperback Ed. March 2003. Catholic Press Association Award, First Place, May 2003.
 * The Broken Tower: A Life of Hart Crane. New York: W. W. Norton, 492 pp. April 1999. Main Selection of The Poetry Book Club of The American Academy of American Poets. NY Times Notable Books Paperback edition, April 2000. Ohioana Award for Best Book on Ohio or an Ohioan for 2000. 23 October 2000. James Tait Black Memorial Prize: one of four finalists for biography for 2000.
 * The Great Wheel: Poems. New York: W.W. Norton, April 1996, 62 pp. Paperback edition: Norton, December 1997.
 * Lost Puritan: A Life of Robert Lowell. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1994. 527 pp. Paperback Ed. Norton, May 1996.
 * Salvage Operations: New and Selected Poems. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. 1990. 185 pp. Paperback edition: Norton, 1991.
 * Dream Song: The Life of John Berryman. William Morrow: New York. February 1990. 519 pp. Paperback Ed.: Paragon Books, June 1992. Second paperback Ed. with new introduction: UMass Press, March 1996.
 * Prime Mover: Poems. Grove Press, 1985. 108 pp.
 * A Usable Past: Essays on Modern & Contemporary Poetry. UMass Press (Amherst, 1984). 268 pp. Essays on Williams, Hopkins, Berryman, Creeley, Montague, Warren, Tomlinson, Merton, and Pack. Introduction & revised essays.
 * Crossing Cocytus: Poems. Grove Press, 1982. 94 pp. 2nd printing, 1983.
 * William Carlos Williams: A New World Naked. McGraw-Hill, 1981. 874 pp. Two hardcover and two paperback editions. Reviewed, front page of The New York Times Book Review, Los Angeles Times, 12 weeks on Editors’ Choice, NYTBR, nominated for the American Book Awards, category: biography. (Reprinted with changes by W.W. Norton & Co. 1990.)
 * Timing Devices: Poems. Pennyroyal Press. Illustrated and designed by Barry Moser. Limited, signed edition, 1978. Trade Ed. David R. Godine of Boston, 1979.
 * William Carlos Williams: The Poet and His Critics. American Library Assoc., 1975. 284 pp.
 * A Commentary on the Complete Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins. Cornell University Press, 1970. 361 pp. An MLA Selection.