Aaron Kramer

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Aaron Kramer
Born(1921-12-13)December 13, 1921
literary critic
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma materBrooklyn College, New York University
Period1937-1996
Notable worksSeven Poets in Search of an Answer (1944), The Poetry and Prose of Heinrich Heine (1948), The Prophetic Tradition in American Poetry (1968), Melville's Poetry: Toward the Enlarged Heart (1972)
SpouseKatherine
ChildrenCarol, Laura
Website
aaronkramer.com

Aaron Kramer (13 December 1921 – 7 April 1997[1]) was an American poet, translator, and social activist. A lifelong poet of political commitment, he wrote 26 volumes of poetry, three of prose, and ten of translations between 1938 and (published posthumously) 1998. Kramer taught English at Dowling College in Oakdale, Long Island, New York.[2]

Biography

Aaron Kramer was born in Brooklyn, New York. He received his B.A. (1941) and M.A. (1951) from Brooklyn College and Ph.D. (1966) from New York University.[3] Kramer wrote his first protest poems in the mid-1930s when he was barely a teenager, through his pointed critiques of the 1983 war in

American writers to produce one a series of poems about McCarthyism, from satiric "The Soul of Martin Dies" (1944) to "Called In" (1980), his poem of outrage against those compelled to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).[1] Kramer first gained national prominence with Seven Poets in Search of An Answer (1944) and The Poetry and Prose of Heinrich Heine (1948). His masterpiece is his 26 poems compromising the 1952 sequence “Denmark Vesey", about plans for aborted 1822 slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina.[1]

In addition to poetry, Kramer published collections of translations. These include several works on Heine,

Holocaust. Lifelong pen friend Sohail Adeeb (poet, critic, literary editor) translated some of Kramer's works into Urdu.[1]

"From "The Murdered Dreams of Aaron Kramer: A Marxist Poet in the 'American Century'"

Kramer was... the widower of a lost Communist faith who never truly remarried, an artist haunted by dreams murdered by Hitler and Stalin.

The alternatingly celebratory, stoic, and melancholic poetry of Aaron Kramer might be seen, among other ways, as the overlooked and divided love child of Pablo Neruda and Howard Zinn.[4]

Kramer was moved by the support he received by writers around the world who rallied to support him in his stand against McCarthyism.[1]

Kramer held various jobs until obtaining started teaching English at Dowling College in 1961, where he taught until 1996.[1][5][6]

Private life and death

Kramer married Katherine and had two daughters, Carol and Laura.[2]

He died April 7, 1997, age 75 at his home in Long Island.[2]

Outook

Kramer's artistic identity took shape in New York City during the late 1930s and early 1940s, where he moved in left-wing literary circles and absorbed many of their attitudes and ideals. Although never affiliated with a party or ideology, Kramer consistently pursued progressive political themes in his poetry. He often wrote passionately about the injustices he perceived. Slavery and abolition were frequent themes of his early work ("Denmark Vesey," "The Ballad of August Biondi"). Racism, war and imperialism, and economic inequality were also repeated motifs in his poetry. On the other hand, Kramer frequently wrote about private, personal experiences. Both sides of his work display an idealism and optimism concerning the human capacity for endurance and compassion.[3]

Published works

Kramer's critical books include The Prophetic Tradition in American Poetry (1968) and Melville’s Poetry (1972).[1] Kramer collaborated with artists on The Tune of the Calliope: Poems and Drawings of New York and edited the 1972 anthology On Freedom’s Side: American Poems of Protest.[1] He wanted to radicalize root and branch the American literary tradition, not abandon it for alternative forms. He translated and edited the work 135 Yiddish poets were published as part of “A Century of Yiddish Poetry”.

Drawing largely from the records of Dowling College[7] and his obituary in the New York Times,[2] Kramer's published works include:

Recordings:

Scholarly Works:

  • The Prose and Poetry of Heinrich Heine (1948)
  • Emma Lazarus: Her Life and Work (Thesis, Brooklyn College, 1951)
  • The Prophetic Tradition in American Poetry, 1835-1900 (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1968)
  • On Freedom's Side: An Anthology of American Poems of Protest (Macmillan, 1972)
  • Melville's Poetry: Toward the Enlarged Heart; A Thematic Study of Three Ignored Major Poems (Rutherford, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 1972)
  • Neglected Aspects of American Poetry: The Greek Independence War and Other Studies (Oakdale, NY: Dowling College Press, 1997)

Anthologies:

  • Seven Poets in Search of an Answer: A Poetic Symposium (with Maxwell Bodenheim, Joy Davidman, Langston Hughes, Alfred Kreymborg, Martha Millet, Norman Rosten) (B. Ackerman, 1944, 1976)
  • Carousel Parkway and Other Poems (San Diego: A.S. Barnes, 1980)
  • Long Island Writers: A Special Confrontation Anthology Issue (Greenvale, NY: Confrontation Magazine, C.W. Post College, 1985)
  • Wicked Times: Selected Poems (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2004)[8]

Poetry:

Collection:

  • The Burning Bush: Poems and Other Writings (1940-1980). Ed. Thomas Yoseloff (New York: Cornwall Books, 1983)

Essays:

  • Regrouping: Poems (Northport, NY: Birnham WoodGraphics, 1997)

Translations:

Edited and translated:

  • A Century of Yiddish Poetry. Ed. and trans. Aaron Kramer (New York: Cornwall Books, 1989)
  • Teitelboim, Dora. All My Yesterdays Were Steps: The Selected Poems of Dora Teitelboim. Ed. and trans. Aaron Kramer. Illus. Stan Kaplan (Hoboken, NJ: Dora Teitelboim Foundation, 1995)

Editing:

"In later years, Kramer co-edited West Hills Review: a Whitman Journal, and edited or co-edited numerous other anthologies."[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Aaron Kramer". (unknown). 17 March 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d "Aaron Kramer, Poet And Translator, 75". The New York Times. 12 April 1997. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  3. ^ a b c "Biography". University of Michigan. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  4. ^ Wald, Alan (April 2016). "The Murdered Dreams of Aaron Kramer: A Marxist Poet in the "American Century"". Science & Society. pp. 147–169. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  5. ^ Wannermeyer, Teresa. "In Memoriam: Aaron Kramer". Dowling College. Archived from the original on 14 September 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  6. ^ "Aaron Kramer Collection". Connetquot Public Library. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  7. ^ "A Guide to Materials on Aaron Kramer" (PDF). Dowling College. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  8. ^ "Wicked Times: Selected Poems". University of Illinois Press. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  9. ^ Nelson, Cary. "About Aaron Kramer". Illinois University - Modern American Poetry. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  10. ^ Kramer, Aaron (13 April 1945). "The Death of President Roosevelt" (PDF). English 88, Modern & Contemporary American Poetry, Al Filreis, University of Pennsylvania (Fall 2010). Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  11. ^ Wicked Times: Selected Poems. University of Illinois Press. 2004.
    ISBN 9780252029189
    . Retrieved 3 April 2016.

External links

Archives at
LocationMusic Division, Library of Congress
SourceAaron Kramer collection, 1974-1980
How to use archival material
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