Penny's poetry pages Wiki
Advertisement
in: Pages containing cite templates with deprecated parameters, Articles using Wikipedia text, Articles with authority control information,
and 19 more

Richard Wilbur

Edit

Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 - October 14, 2014) was an American poet and translator. He was appointed the 2nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.[1]

Rwilbur

Richard Wilbur. Courtesy the Library of Congress.

Richard Wilbur
Born Richard Purdy Wilbur
March 1, 1921
New York City, New York
Occupation Poet
Nationality American
Alma mater Amherst College (1942)
Harvard University (1947)
Notable award(s) Pulitzer Prize in Poetry (1957, 1989)
Spouse(s) Mary Charlotte Hayes Ward (1922-2007)
Children Ellen Dickinson, Christopher Hayes, Nathan Lord, Aaron Hammond

Life[]

Youth and education[]

Wilbur was born in New York City and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey.[2]

When only 8 years old, Wilbur published a poem in John Martin's Magazine.

He graduated from Amherst College in 1942 and then served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II.

Career[]

After the Army and graduate school at Harvard University, Wilbur taught at Wesleyan University for 2 decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the Wesleyan University Press.[3][4] He teaches at Amherst College.[5]

He married Charlotte Hayes Ward in 1942 after his graduation from Amherst; she was a student at nearby Smith College.

His debut collection, The Beautiful Changes and other poems, appeared in 1947. Since then he has published several volumes of poetry, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989).

Wilbur was also a translator, specializing in the 17th- century French comedies of Moliere and the dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the standard English version of the play, and has been presented on television twice. (A 1978 production is available on DVD.)

Wilbur died on October 14, 2017, aged 96, at a nursing home in Belmont, Massachusetts from natural causes.[6][7]

Writing[]

Continuing the tradition of Robert Frost and W.H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into lyric writing. He provided lyrics to several songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical, Candide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow." He has also produced several unpublished works such as "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".

Recognition[]

His honors include 2 Pulitzer Prizes in Poetry (in 1957 and 1989), the 1983 Drama Desk Special Award for his translation of The Misanthrope, the National Book Award in 1957, the Edna St Vincent Millay award, the Bollingen Prize in 1971, and the Chevalier, Ordre National des Palmes Academiques. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.[8]

In 1987 Wilbur became the 2nd poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1989 he won a 2nd Pulitzer, for his New and Collected Poems.

On October 14, 1994, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton.[9]

In 2006, Wilbur won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. In 2010 he won the National Translation Award for the translation of The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille.

Awards[]

Publications[]

Poetry[]

  • The Beautiful Changes, and other poems. Reynal, 1947.
  • Ceremony, and other poems. Boston: Harcourt, 1950.
  • A Bestiary. New York: printed at the Spiral Press for Pantheon Books, 1955.
  • Things of This World. Boston: Harcourt, 1956.
  • Poems, 1943-1956. London: Faber, 1957.
  • Advice to a Prophet, and other poems. Boston: Harcourt, 1961.
  • Walking to Sleep: New poems and translations. Boston: Harcourt, 1969.
  • The Mind-Reader: New poems. Boston: Harcourt, 1976.
  • New and Collected Poems. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988.
  • Mayflies: New poems and translations. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 2000)
  • Collected Poems, 1943-2004. San Diego, CA: Harcourt, 2004.
  • Anterooms: New poems and translations. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.[28]

Non-fiction[]

  • Responses: Prose pieces, 1953-1976. Harcourt, 1976.
  • The Catbird's Song: Prose pieces, 1963-1995. Harcourt, 1997.

Translated[]

  • Moliere, The Misanthrope: Comedy in five acts, 1666 (produced in Cambridge, MA, by the Poet’s Theatre, October 25, 1955; produced off-Broadway at Theatre East, November 12, 1956). Harcourt, 1955.
  • (Lyricist with John Latouche, Dorothy Parker, Lillian Hellman, and Leonard Bernstein) Voltaire, Candide: A comic operetta based on Voltaire’s satire (musical; based on adaptation by Lillian Hellman; music by Leonard Bernstein; produced on Broadway at Martin Beck Theatre, December 1, 1956; produced on the West End at Saville Theatre, April 30, 1959). New York: Random House, 1957.
  • Philippe de Thaun, The Pelican, from a Bestiary of 1120 (poem). privately printed, 1963.
  • Moliere, Tartuffe: Comedy in five acts, 1669 (produced in Milwaukee, WI, at Fred Miller Theatre, January, 1964; produced on Broadway at ANTA Theatre, January 14, 1965). Harcourt, 1963.
  • Moliere, The Misanthrope / Tartuffe. Harcourt, 1965.
  • Moliere, The School for Wives: Comedy in five acts, 1662 (produced on Broadway at Lyceum Theatre, February 16, 1971 ). Harcourt, 1971.
  • Moliere, The Learned Ladies: Comedy in five acts, 1672 (produced in Williamstown, MA, at the Williamstown Festival Theatre, 1977). Harcourt, 1978.
  • Jean Racine, Andromache: Tragedy in five acts, 1667. Harcourt, 1982.
  • Moliere, Four comedies. Harcourt, 1982.
  • The Whale, and other uncollected translations. Rochester, NY: BOA Editions , 1982.
  • Racine, Phaedra. Harcourt, 1986.
  • Moliere, The School for Husbands. Harcourt, 1992.
  • Moliere, The Imaginary Cuckold. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1993.
  • Moliere, The School for Husbands / Sganarelle; or, The imaginary cuckold. Harcourt, 1994.
  • Moliere, Amphitryon. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1995.
  • Baudelaire, 1854. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1997.
  • Moliere, Don Juan. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1998; published as Don Juan: Comedy in five acts, 1665. Harcourt, 2001.
Richard_Wilbur_-_Poetry_readings_'The_Writer'_(58_83)

Richard Wilbur - Poetry readings 'The Writer' (58 83)


Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the Poetry Foundation.[29]

See also[]


v · d · ePulitzer Prize in Poetry, 1951–1975
Carl Sandburg (1951)  • Marianne Moore (1952)  • Archibald MacLeish (1953)  • Theodore Roethke (1954)  • Wallace Stevens (1955)  • Elizabeth Bishop (1956)  • Richard Wilbur (1957)  • Robert Penn Warren (1958)  • Stanley Kunitz (1959)  • W.D. Snodgrass (1960)  • Phyllis McGinley (1961)  • Alan Dugan (1962)  • William Carlos Williams (1963)  • Louis Simpson (1964)  • John Berryman (1965)  • Richard Eberhart (1966)  • Anne Sexton (1967)  • * Anthony Hecht (1968)  • George Oppen (1969)  • Richard Howard (1970)  • W.S. Merwin (1971)  • James Wright (1972)  • Maxine Kumin (1973)  • Robert Lowell (1974)  • Gary Snyder (1975)
 • Complete list  • (1918-1950)  • (1951-1975)  • (1976-2000)  • (2001-2025)  •
v · d · ePulitzer Prize for Poetry, 1976–2000
John Ashbery (1976)  • James Merrill (1977)  • Howard Nemerov (1978)  • Robert Penn Warren (1979)  • Donald Justice (1980)  • James Schuyler (1981)  • Sylvia Plath (1982)  • Galway Kinnell (1983)  • Mary Oliver (1984)  • Carolyn Kizer (1985)  • Henry S. Taylor (1986)  • Rita Dove (1987)  • William Meredith (1988)  • Richard Wilbur (1989)  • Charles Simic (1990)  • Mona Van Duyn (1991)  • James Tate (1992)  • Louise Glück (1993)  • Yusef Komunyakaa (1994)  • Philip Levine (1995)  • Jorie Graham (1996)  • Lisel Mueller (1997)  • Charles Wright (1998)  • Mark Strand (1999)  • C.K. Williams (2000)
 • Complete list  • (1918-1950)  • (1951-1975)  • (1976-2000)  • (2001-2025)  •

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ↑ "Poet Laureate Timeline: 1981-1990". Library of Congress. 2008. http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1981-1990.html. Retrieved 2009-01-01. 
  2. ↑ "Celebrate the life and work of poet Richard Wilbur", Berkshire Eagle, June 24, 2005. The son of a painter, "Wilbur spent his childhood in North Caldwell..."
  3. ↑ english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm
  4. ↑ query.nytimes.com
  5. ↑ https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/rpwilbur42
  6. ↑ "Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96". The New York Times. October 16, 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/15/obituaries/richard-wilbur-poet-laureate-and-pulitzer-winner-dies-at-96.html. 
  7. ↑ Ferney, Mark (October 15, 2017). "Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96". Boston Globe. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html. Retrieved October 15, 2017. 
  8. ↑ "Book of Members, 1780-2010: Chapter W". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterW.pdf. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  9. ↑ *The White House - Office of the Press Secretary
  10. ↑ "All Fellows". http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/. 
  11. ↑ "A Century of American Poetry". https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/about/mission/. 
  12. ↑ "National Book Awards – 1957". https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1957#.V41tqmQrK2w. 
  13. ↑ "Poetry". http://www.pulitzer.org/prize-winners-by-category/224. 
  14. ↑ "The Bollingen Prize for Poetry". Yale University. http://bollingen.yale.edu/. 
  15. ↑ "Shelley Winners". https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/frost_and_shelley/shelley_winners/. 
  16. ↑ "Past Awards". New York Drama Critics' Circle. http://www.dramacritics.org/dc_pastawards.html#1974. 
  17. ↑ "Awards for 1973–1974". http://outercritics.org/award-results/awards-for-1973-1974/. 
  18. ↑ "Awards". http://www.dramadesk.org/awards. 
  19. ↑ Peter Armenti (June 10, 2015). "United States Poets Laureate: A Guide to Online Resources". https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/poetslaureate/. 
  20. ↑ "Olivier Winners 1988". http://www.olivierawards.com/winners/view/item98523/olivier-winners-1988/. 
  21. ↑ "Saint Louis Literary Award - Saint Louis University". http://www.slu.edu/libraries/associates/award.html. 
  22. ↑ Saint Louis University Library Associates. "Recipients of the St. Louis Literary Award". http://lib.slu.edu/about/associates/literary-award. Retrieved July 25, 2016. 
  23. ↑ "Gold Medal". American Academy of Arts and Letters. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160817092924/http://www.artsandletters.org/awards2_popup.php?abbrev=Gold%20Literature. 
  24. ↑ "PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation Winners". https://pen.org/penralph-manheim-medal-translation-winners. 
  25. ↑ "Frost Medalists". https://www.poetrysociety.org/psa/awards/frost_and_shelley/frost_winners/. 
  26. ↑ "Wallace Stevens Award". https://www.poets.org/academy-american-poets/prizes/wallace-stevens-award. 
  27. ↑ "Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize". http://www.poetryfoundation.org/programs/foundation/awards/detail/ruth-lilly-poetry-prize. 
  28. ↑ [Anterooms: New Poems and Translations (Google eBook)], Google Books, Web, June 26, 2012.
  29. ↑ Richard Wilbur b.1921, Poetry Foundation, Web, June 26, 2012.

External links[]

Poems
Audio/video
Books
About
Etc.
This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia. (view article). (view authors).
Authority control
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.
Advertisement