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Gary Snyder

ゲイリー・スナイダー

Gari Sunaidā

Pen Names: Chofu ("Listen to the Wind")（Dharma name received in Zen practice）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1930-05-08 （San Francisco, California, United States）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Buddhism (Zen) （Baptismal Name: Chofu）
Residence History
San Francisco (birthplace) → King County, Washington → Portland, Oregon → Mill Valley, California → Kyoto, Japan — long-term stays and Zen study → San Juan Ridge, California — Kitkitdizze (home)

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist, travel writer, translator, educator, lecturer, environmental activist
Active Years
1950-2025
Affiliations
University of California, Davis (faculty; professor emeritus), California Arts Council (former member)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Letters (member, inducted 1987), California Arts Council (former member)
Influenced By
D. T. Suzuki, William Carlos Williams, Robinson Jeffers, Ancient Chinese poets (Tang) and traditional Japanese poetry
Influenced
Alex Steffen, Bruce Barcott, Mark Morford

Education

Reed College
Undergraduate (Anthropology & Literature) / Anthropology & Literature
Degree: BA
Period: 1947–1951
Year of Graduation: 1951
Country: United States
Senior thesis 'The Dimensions of a Myth'. Published early poems while a student.
Indiana University, Bloomington
Graduate studies (Anthropology) / Anthropology
Period: 1951（単科在籍、1学期）
Country: United States
Attended on a graduate fellowship but left after one semester to pursue poetry.

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1975
Work: Turtle Island
Organization: Pulitzer Prize organization
Result: 受賞
American Book Award
1984
Work: Axe Handles
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Bollingen Prize for Poetry
1997
Organization: Bollingen Prize committee
Result: 受賞
John Hay Award for Nature Writing
1997
Organization: John Hay Award organization
Result: 受賞
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
2008
Organization: Poetry Foundation
Result: 受賞
Buddhism Transmission Award
1998
Organization: Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Foundation
Result: 受賞（初の米国人受賞者）
Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Award (Grand Prize)
2004
Organization: Masaoka Shiki International Haiku Award committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems

1959 Poetry

Early collection of poems drawing on experiences as a fire lookout and translations/interpretations of classical Chinese poems.

naturemountains and forestsZen-influenced observation
Translations
  • Includes Snyder's translations of Hanshan (Cold Mountain) poems

Turtle Island

1974 Poetry (ecological poetry)

A collection centered on the North American continent (Turtle Island), exploring ecological ethics and coexistence with nature; winner of the 1975 Pulitzer Prize.

ecosystemsindigenous perspectives on landenvironmental conservation
Translations
  • Translated into Japanese and other languages

Mountains and Rivers Without End

1996 Epic/long-form poem

A long sequence of poems written over 40 years, meditating on inhabitation, time, and fusing East Asian poetic traditions with Western natural history.

temporalityplace and inhabitationEast Asian poetic influence
Translations
  • Translated into Japanese, French, and Russian

The Practice of the Wild

1990 Prose / Essays

A collection of essays on nature, culture, and the practice of poetry, linking ecological perspectives with poetics.

practice of wildnessenvironmental thoughtpoetry and daily life
Adaptations
  • [Documentary film] The Practice of the Wild / John J. Healy (2010)

Axe Handles

1983 Poetry / Essays

A collection reflecting everyday life, community, and hands-on work; awarded the American Book Award.

communitywork and craftrelationship with nature

Bibliography

  • Riprap and Cold Mountain Poems (1959)
  • Myths & Texts (1960)
  • Six Sections from Mountains and Rivers Without End (1965)
  • The Back Country (1967)
  • Regarding Wave (1969)
  • Earth House Hold (1969)
  • Turtle Island (1974)
  • The Real Work (1980)
  • Axe Handles (1983)
  • The Practice of the Wild (1990)
  • Mountains and Rivers Without End (1996)
  • Danger on Peaks (2005)
  • Collected Poems (2022)
  • Essential Prose (2025)

Adaptations

  • Documentary 'The Practice of the Wild' (2010)

Translations by Author

  • Translations of Tang-dynasty poet Hanshan (Cold Mountain poems)
  • Translations of Kenji Miyazawa (selected poems)

Translations of Works

  • Translations of 'Mountains and Rivers Without End' into Japanese, French, and Russian
  • Multiple translations of 'Turtle Island' including Japanese

Style & Themes

Literary Style
colloquial, concise lineationinfluence of Zen and East Asian poetics (attention to ma/space)flexible forms, avoidance of regular meter and rhyme
Recurring Motifs
mountains, rivers, forestsplace and inhabitationindigenous cultures and land-viewZen practice and meditation

Legacy

Gary Snyder is known for combining Zen and an intense attention to nature within a poetics connected to the Beats and San Francisco Renaissance. He influenced environmental writing and nature-focused literature, won major honors including the Pulitzer Prize, and is respected in academia and popular culture.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • University of California, Davis Special Collections (Gary Snyder Papers)
  • Simon Fraser University Special Collections (Gary Snyder fonds)

In Popular Culture

  • Model for the character Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac's 'The Dharma Bums'
  • Documentary film 'The Practice of the Wild' (2010)

Quotes

  • "There is a direction ... of the organism being less and less locked into itself, ... where the organism can actually go out from itself and share itself with others."
    Source: Interview with Faas (1974)

Trivia

  • Considered the inspiration for Japhy Ryder in Jack Kerouac's 'The Dharma Bums'.
  • Won the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for 'Turtle Island'.
  • In 1998 received the Buddhism Transmission Award from Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai, the first American to do so.