Josephine Jacobsen

Josephine Jacobsen (1908-2003). Courtesy Universidad de Alcala.

Born	Josephine Winder Boylan August 19 1908(1908-Template:MONTHNUMBER-19) Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Died	July 9 2003(2003-Template:MONTHNUMBER-09) (aged 94) Cockeysville, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Poet, literary critic
Nationality	United States

Josephine Winder Jacobsen (August 19, 1908 - July 9, 2003) was an American poet and short story writer, who served as Poet laureate of the United States.

Life

Jacobsen was born Josephine Winder Boylan, prematurely, to an American couple who were vacationing in Canada. Her father died when she was 5. Her mother moved frequently after that, and Josphine received no formal schooling until 14, being taught by tutors. When she was 14, she moved to Maryland where she lived for the rest of her life.

Jacobsen served as poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1971 to 1973 and as honorary consultant in American letters from 1973 to 1979. She served as a member of both the literature panel for the National Endowment for the Arts and the poetry committee of Folger Library.

She was a prolific writer of poems and short stories into her 9th decade. Jacobsen is the author of several collections of poetry and prose.

Jacobsen was also a fan of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team and wrote poems on her love of baseball.

Writing

Joseph Brodsky praised Jacobsen's poetry for its "reserve, stoic timbre, and its high precision" while William Meredith called her "post-cocious" for her prolific writing late in life.

Recognition

Jacobsen was appointed the 21st Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1971.

Among her other awards are an Academy of American Poets fellowship and the 1997 Poets' Prize for In the Crevice of Time. She received honorary doctorates from Goucher College, The College of Notre Dame in Maryland, Towson State University, and Johns Hopkins University. She was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1994 and received the Frost Medal for Lifetime achievement in poetry.

Publications

Poetry

• Let Each Man Remember. Dallas, TX: Kaleidograph Press, 1940.
• For the Unlost. Contemporary Poetry, 1946.
• The Human Climate: New Poems. Contemporary Poetry, 1953.
• The Animal Inside. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1966.
• The Shade-Seller: New and selected poems. New York: Doubleday, 1974.
• One Poet's Poetry. Agnes Scott College, 1975.
• The Chinese Insomniacs: New poems. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981.
• The Sisters: New and selected poems. Oakland, CA: Bench Press, 1987.
• Distances. Cranbury, NJ: Bucknell University Press, 1992.
• Collected Poems. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
• In the Crevice of Time: New and collected poems. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995.
• Contents of a Minute: Last poems (edited by Elizabeth Spires). Louisville, KY: Sarabande Books, 2008.

Short fiction

• A Walk with Raschid, and other stories. Winston-Salem, NC: Jackpine, 1978.
• Adios, Mr. Moxley: Thirteen stories. Winston-Salem, NC: Jackpine, 1986.
• On the Island: New & selected stories. Ontario Review Press, 1989.
• What Goes without Saying: Collected stories of Josephine Jacobsen. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996.

Non-fiction

• The Testament of Samuel Beckett (dramatic criticism, with William R. Mueller). New York: Hill & Wang, 1964.
• Ionesco and Genet: Playwrights of silence (dramatic criticism, with William R. Mueller). New York: Hill & Wang, 1968.
• The Instant of Knowing. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1974
  • revised as The Instant of Knowing: Lectures, criticism, and occasional prose (edited by Elizabeth Spires). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 1997.
• Substance of Things Hoped For. New York: Doubleday, 1987.

Edited

• From Anne to Marianne: Some American women poets. Washington, DC: Library of Congress (Washington, DC), 1972,

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation..

The Animals by Josephine Jacobsen Recited by Lex Harvey

Audio / video

• Selected Poems (recording). Watershed, 1977.
• The Poet and the Poem (recording). Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1990.

See also

• List of U.S. poets

References

• Wolfgang Saxon (12 July 2003). "Josephine Jacobsen, 94, Former Poet Laureate". The New York Times:. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9902E7DB1E3DF931A25754C0A9659C8B63. Retrieved 2008-12-21. 

External links

Poems

• "The Companions"
• "It Is the Season"
• "The Animals" at Poetry Out Loud
• Josephine Jacobsen 1908-2003 at the Poetry Foundation
• "Undersung: Josephine Jacobsen – A Poet's Poet by Julie Larios at Numero Cinq (3 poems with detailed analysis)

About

• Josephine Jacobsen profile at the Academy of American Poets
• Maryland Women's Hall of Fame
• Josephine Jacobsen, 94, Former Poet Laureate obituary at the New York Times
• Elizabeth Spires on Josephine Jacobsen at the Poetry Society of America.
• Josephine Jacobsen interview with Grace Cavalieri