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Donald Rodney Justice

ドナルド・ロドニー・ジャスティス

Donarudo Rodonī Jasutisu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1925-08-12 （Miami, Florida, U.S.）
Died
2004-08-06 （Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.） age 78
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Miami, Florida → Chapel Hill, North Carolina → Iowa City, Iowa → Gainesville, Florida → California (Stanford study)

Career

Occupations
Poet, University professor, Teacher of creative writing
Active Years
1950-2004
Affiliations
University of Iowa (Iowa Writers' Workshop), Syracuse University, University of California, Irvine, Princeton University, University of Virginia, University of Florida (Gainesville)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters, Academy of American Poets (Chancellor, 1997–2003)
Influenced By
Formalist traditions in poetry
Influenced
Mark Jarman, Rita Dove, James Tate, C. Dale Young, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Mark Strand, William Stafford, Larry Levis, John Irving (novelist), Marvin Bell, Tad Richards
Nominations
National Book Award Finalist (1961), National Book Award Finalist (1974), National Book Award Finalist (1995), National Book Award nominee (Collected Poems, 2004)

Education

University of Miami
Degree: BA
Period: 1941-1945
Year of Graduation: 1945
Country: United States
Bachelor's degree
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Degree: MA
Period: 1945-1947
Year of Graduation: 1947
Country: United States
Master's degree
Stanford University
Period: 一時研修・在籍（詳細不明）
Country: United States
Studied for a time
University of Iowa
Degree: PhD
Period: 1950-1954
Year of Graduation: 1954
Country: United States
PhD; associated with the Iowa Writers' Workshop

Awards

Lamont Poetry Prize
1961
Work: The Summer Anniversaries
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: 受賞
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1980
Work: Selected Poems
Category: 詩
Organization: Pulitzer Prize (administered by Columbia University)
Result: 受賞
Bollingen Prize
1991
Work: For poetry / body of work
Organization: Bollingen Foundation / Library of Congress (administered)
Result: 受賞
Lannan Literary Award for Poetry
1996
Work: For poetry / body of work
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 助成

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Old Bachelor and Other Poems

1951 Poetry

Early collection of poems featuring Justice's early work.

solitudememory

The Summer Anniversaries

1960 Poetry

One of Justice's important early collections, noted for formal precision and lyricism.

losstimeprivate memory

Selected Poems

1979 Poetry

A selected poems volume (1979) highly regarded and included in Harold Bloom's Western Canon list.

formsense of lossnostalgia

Collected Poems

2004 Poetry

A comprehensive collection of his poetry published in 2004; nominated for the National Book Award.

life retrospectiveform and craft

Bibliography

  • The Old Bachelor and Other Poems (1951)
  • The Summer Anniversaries (1960)
  • A Local Storm (1963)
  • Night Light (1967)
  • Sixteen Poems (1970)
  • From a Notebook (1971)
  • Departures (1973)
  • Selected Poems (1979)
  • Tremayne (1984)
  • The Sunset Maker (1987)
  • A Donald Justice Reader (1991)
  • New and Selected Poems (1995)
  • Orpheus Hesitated beside the Black River: Poems, 1952-1997 (1998)
  • Collected Poems (2004)
  • Essay collections: Platonic Scripts (1984), Oblivion: On Writers and Writing (1998)

Adaptations

  • The Young God - A Vaudeville (opera by Edward Miller, 1969)
  • The Death of Lincoln (libretto by Donald Justice, opera by Edwin London, 1988)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Meticulous formalist styleLyrical and precise dictionAttention to rhythm and prosody
Recurring Motifs
lossdistancememory and nostalgia

Health

  • Parkinson's disease
    晩年
    Progressed in later years and contributed to declining health prior to death.
  • Stroke (late life)
    死の数週間前
    Suffered a stroke weeks before death and was placed in a nursing home.
  • Pneumonia (immediate cause of death)
    2004年
    Family stated that the immediate cause of death was pneumonia.

Legacy

Donald Justice was an American poet noted for formal precision and craft. He taught for decades at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, influenced many prominent poets and writers, and received major awards including the Pulitzer and Bollingen Prize.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters
  • Academy of American Poets (leadership)

Archives

  • University of Iowa Special Collections (holds related papers)

In Popular Culture

  • Donald Justice Poetry Prize (prize named in his honor)

Quotes

  • In most ways, Justice was no different from any number of solid, quiet older writers devoted to traditional short poems. But he was different in one important sense: sometimes his poems weren't just good; they were great.
    Source: David Orr (review, The New York Times) (2004)
  • As a teacher, Don chose always to be on the side of the poem, defending it from half-baked attacks by students anxious to defend their own turf.
    Source: Marvin Bell (remembrance) (2004)

Trivia

  • Harold Bloom included his Selected Poems in The Western Canon.
  • Longtime teacher at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, mentoring many notable poets.