William Morris Meredith Jr.
William Meredith | |
---|---|
Born | William Morris Meredith Jr. January 9, 1919 New York City, U.S. |
Died | May 30, 2007 New London, Connecticut, U.S. | (aged 88)
Occupation |
|
Education | Princeton University (BA) |
Notable awards | National Book Award (1997) Pulitzer Prize (1988) |
Partner | Richard Harteis (1970s–2007) |
William Morris Meredith Jr. (January 9, 1919 – May 30, 2007) was an American poet and educator. He was
Biography
Early years
Meredith was born in New York City to William Morris Meredith Sr. and Nelley Keyser. He attended
Career
Meredith worked briefly for the
From 1946 to 1950, Meredith had several teaching appointments at
From 1964 to 1987, Meredith served as Chancellor of the
In 1983, Meredith suffered a stroke and was immobilized for two years. The stroke caused expressive aphasia, which affected his ability to produce language. Meredith ended his teaching career and could not write poetry during this period. He regained many of his language skills after intensive therapy and traveling to Britain for treatment.[citation needed]
In 1988, Meredith was awarded the
One of the most complete collections of Meredith's work, "The William Meredith Papers," is housed at Connecticut College, where he taught. The collection documents his life and work as of one of Connecticut College's most eminent faculty members and one of the nation's most respected poets. The collection contains letters, drafts, speeches, and papers relating to many organizations with which Meredith was associated, such as the Library of Congress, the Academy of American Poets, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Connecticut College, Princeton University, Yaddo, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, cultural and governmental agencies in Bulgaria, and the Estate of W. H. Auden.[citation needed]
Connecticut College acquired the papers in 1994. They are in the Special Collections department of the Charles E. Shain Library. One may consult the collection by arrangement with the Special Collections Librarian. The library also has a virtually complete collection of Meredith's published work, including many of the anthologies and issues of literary journals in which individual poems were published or reprinted. The book collection also includes presentation copies of Robert Frost's poetry that Frost gave Meredith, several with inscriptions and holograph poems.[citation needed]
A longtime admirer of W. B. Yeats, Meredith fulfilled his ambition to visit Yeats's spiritual homeplace of Sligo, Ireland, in 2006. While there he also attended the Yeats International Summer School, which attracts many academics and admirers of Yeats to Sligo every summer.[citation needed]
Personal life
Meredith died in New London, Connecticut, near his home in Montville, where he lived with his partner of 36 years, the poet and fiction writer Richard Harteis.[6][7] A film about his life, Marathon, premiered on November 19, 2008, in Mystic, Connecticut.[8]
Bibliography
Poetry
- Love Letter from an Impossible Land (Yale University Press, 1944)
- Ships and Other Figures (Princeton University Press, 1948)
- The Open Sea and Other Poems (Alfred A. Knopf, 1957)
- The Wreck of the Thresher and Other Poems (Knopf, 1964) —finalist for the National Book Award[9]
- Winter Verse (privately printed, 1964)
- Earth Walk: New and Selected Poems (Knopf, 1970)
- Hazard the Painter (Knopf, 1975) ISBN 978-0-394-49634-4
- The Cheer (Knopf, 1980)
- Partial Accounts: New and Selected Poems (Knopf, 1987) ISBN 978-0-394-75191-7 —winner of the Pulitzer Prize[3]
- Effort at Speech: New and Selected Poems. Northwestern University Press. 1997.
Essays
- Reasons for Poetry, and The Reason for Criticism (1982)[10]
- Poems Are Hard to Read, University of Michigan Press, 1991, ISBN 978-0-472-09427-1
Translation and Anthology
- Guillaume Apollinaire, Alcools: Poems, 1898-1913, Translator (Doubleday, 1964)
- Poets of Bulgaria, Editor (Unicorn Press, 1985) ISBN 978-0-87775-190-8
Awards
- 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry – Partial Accounts[3]
- 1997 National Book Award for Poetry – Effort at Speech[4]
- 1975 Guggenheim Fellowship
References
- ^ "Poet Laureate Timeline: 1971–1980". Library of Congress. 2008. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Foundation Biography". William Meredith Foundation. Archived from the original on July 5, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ a b c "Poetry" Archived March 29, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Past winners & finalists by category. The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ a b c
"National Book Awards – 1997" Archived November 22, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. National Book Foundation. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
(With 1997 award citation, essay by Scott Challener from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog, and "William Meredith, In Memoriam".) - ^ "Pulitzer Prize-winning Connecticut poet dies". Newsday. May 31, 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2007. [dead link]
- ^ Elaine Stoll (May 31, 2007). "William M. Meredith, Noted Poet, Dies At 88". TheDay. Retrieved June 3, 2007.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Fox, Margalit (June 1, 2007). "William Meredith, 88, Poet Who Wed Depth to Form, Dies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 13, 2012. Retrieved March 29, 2008.
- ^ "Movie honors life of award-winning poet," Norwich Bulletin, November 15, 2008
- ^ "National Book Awards – 1965" Archived November 19, 2018, at the Wayback Machine. National Book Foundation. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
- ^ William Meredith. "Reasons for poetry". Archived from the original on February 12, 2007. Retrieved June 3, 2007.
External links
Archives
- William Meredith papers at Washington University in St. Louis
- William Meredith and Robert Drew papers at Princeton University Library Special Collections
Other links
- William Meredith Foundation
- marathon the movie
- William Meredith profile and selected works at Academy of American Poets
- William Meredith page Archived November 29, 2013, at the Wayback Machine, Connecticut College Library, Department of Special Collections
- Edward Hirsch (Spring 1985). "William Meredith, The Art of Poetry No. 34". The Paris Review. Spring 1985 (95).
- William Meredith at Library of Congress Authorities — with 71 catalog records
- Poetry Foundation biography page