Bollingen Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 13 (1959) Winner
Delmore Schwartz
デルモア・シュワルツ
Derumoa Shuwarutsu
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1913-12-08 （Brooklyn, New York, U.S.）
- Died
- 1966-07-11 （New York City, U.S.） age 52
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Judaism
- Residence History
- Brooklyn (childhood and youth) → Cambridge, Massachusetts (around Harvard, circa 1946) → New York City (White Horse Tavern circles; Chelsea Hotel in later years) → Residences for teaching positions: Syracuse, Princeton, Kenyon, etc.
Career
- Occupations
- poet, short story writer, editor, teacher
- Active Years
- 1932-1966
- Influenced By
- Alfred North Whitehead, Modernist poets (e.g., T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound)
- Influenced
- Saul Bellow, Lou Reed, John Berryman, Robert Lowell
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia University | — | — | — | — | United States |
| University of Wisconsin | — | — | — | — | United States |
| New York University | — | — | B.A. | 〜1935 | United States |
| Harvard University (graduate work) | — | Philosophy (studies) | — | — | United States |
Columbia University
Country:
United States
Attended; no degree recorded
University of Wisconsin
Country:
United States
Attended; no degree recorded
New York University
Degree:
B.A.
Period:
〜1935
Year of Graduation:
1935
Country:
United States
Received B.A. in 1935
Harvard University (graduate work)
Philosophy (studies)
Country:
United States
Studied with Alfred North Whitehead; left without a degree
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Bollingen Prize | Summer Knowledge: New and Selected Poems | — | Bollingen Prize (awarding organization) | 受賞 |
Bollingen Prize
1959
Work:
Summer Knowledge: New and Selected Poems
Organization:
Bollingen Prize (awarding organization)
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
In Dreams Begin Responsibilities
1938 short stories and poetry collectionA collection of short stories and poems addressing family breakdown and the disillusionment of immigrant generations; includes the pieces that made Schwartz widely known.
family breakdownimmigrant experiencegenerational divideidentity
Genesis: Book One
1943 long poem / epic poemA book-length poem about the growth of a human being; it initially received mixed-to-negative critical responses.
growthphilosophical meditationself-formation
The World Is a Wedding
1948 short story collectionA collection of short stories satirizing bohemians and the failures of a generation.
bohemian culturefailure and satireurban life
Summer Knowledge: New and Selected Poems
1959 poetry collectionA 1959 collection of poems notable for their philosophical and increasingly abstract quality; the work earned Schwartz the Bollingen Prize.
philosophical thoughtmeditationabstraction
Bibliography
- The Poets' Pack (Rudge, New York, 1932)
- In Dreams Begin Responsibilities (1938)
- Shenandoah and Other Verse Plays (1941)
- Genesis: Book One (1943)
- The World Is a Wedding (1948)
- Vaudeville for a Princess and Other Poems (1950)
- Summer Knowledge: New and Selected Poems (1959)
- Successful Love and Other Stories (1961)
- Selected Essays and posthumous collections (Selected Essays, 1970; In Dreams Begin Responsibilities and Other Stories, 1978, etc.)
- Screeno: Stories & Poems (2004, posthumous)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- philosophical, meditative stylemodernist elementspoetic and precise language
- Recurring Motifs
- family and parental ruptureimmigrant experience and disillusionurban lonelinessdreams and memory
Health
-
alcoholism晩年（1950年代後半〜1966年）Led to decreased creative productivity and social isolation; contributed to financial and personal decline
-
mental illness (depression/instability)晩年Resulted in reduced publication and cessation of public activity
Legacy
Delmore Schwartz was recognized in the 1930s–50s as a gifted poet and short story writer, receiving acclaim early in his career but spending later years in isolation due to alcoholism and mental illness. His work, notable for portraits of Jewish middle-class urban life and philosophical meditation, influenced numerous writers and musicians.
Archives
- Yale Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Delmore Schwartz Papers)
In Popular Culture
- Lou Reed's mentions and tributes (The Velvet Underground and solo work)
- U2's song "Acrobat" quoting the title of his book
- Model for a character in Saul Bellow's novel "Humboldt's Gift"
Quotes
-
The heavy bear who goes with me, a manifold honey to smear his face, clumsy and lumbering here and there…
Source: Poem "The Heavy Bear Who Goes With Me"
Trivia
- Youngest recipient of the Bollingen Prize in 1959.
- Spent his final years at the Chelsea Hotel and died there of a heart attack in 1966.
- His body went unidentified at the morgue for a short period after death.
- His papers are held by Yale's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.