World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Heather McHugh

ヘザー・マクヒュー

Hezā Makuhyū

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1948-08-20 （San Diego, California, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Gloucester Point, Virginia, U.S. → Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. (Harvard) → Seattle, Washington, U.S. (University of Washington)

Career

Occupations
poet, translator, professor, essayist
Active Years
1968-
Affiliations
University of Washington (Seattle), Academy of American Poets (Chancellor), Warren Wilson College MFA Program (low-residency faculty)
Memberships
Academy of American Poets (Chancellor), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Elected)
Influenced By
Robert Lowell, Richard Wilbur, Anthony Hecht
Influenced
Younger American poets, Practitioners of literary translation

Education

Harvard University
Harvard College / English
Degree: B.A.
Period: 1966–1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United States
Entered at 17; graduated with honors
University of Denver
English
Degree: M.A.
Period: 1971–1972
Year of Graduation: 1972
Country: United States
Published poetry while in graduate school; began teaching after degree

Awards

MacArthur Fellowship
2009
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: Winner
Griffin Poetry Prize (Translation)
2001
Work: Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul Celan
Category: Translation
Organization: Griffin Trust
Result: Winner
Harvard Review / Daniel Pollock Prize
1995
Work: Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993
Organization: Harvard Review
Result: Winner
Bingham Poetry Prize (Boston Book Review)
1995
Work: Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993
Organization: Boston Book Review
Result: Winner
O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize
1998
Organization: Folger Library
Result: Winner
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
1999
Organization: PEN America
Result: Winner
Witter Bynner Fellowship
Organization: Witter Bynner Program (U.S.)
Result: Winner
Guggenheim Fellowship
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: Winner
Pushcart Prize
Organization: Pushcart Press
Result: Winner (複数回)
National Book Award (Finalist)
1994
Work: Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: Finalist
Pulitzer Prize (Finalist)
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: Finalist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Dangers

1977 Poetry collection

Early collection showcasing linguistic play and keen observation.

languageeveryday observationidentity

To the Quick

1987 Poetry collection

A mature collection combining formal craft with a personal voice.

language and formpersonal memory

Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993

1994 Poetry collection (selected + new)

Collected and new poems from 1968 to 1993; critically acclaimed and prize-recognized.

uncertainty of languageethics and observation

The Father of the Predicaments

1999 Poetry collection

Late-1990s collection characterized by layered diction and texture.

layers of languagecontradiction and predicament

Eyeshot

2003 Poetry collection

Collection emphasizing visual imagery and sharp diction.

visionobservationimmediacy of language

Upgraded to Serious

2009 Poetry collection

A late-2000s collection combining skepticism about language with playfulness.

skepticismlinguistic play

Muddy Matterhorn

2020 Poetry collection

Collection of poems from the 2010s; the NYT described it as "a vortex of strangeness."

strangenesshigh/low interchangeuncertainty of language
Adaptations
  • [music/visual collaboration] Music and visuals for six poems (collaboration with Lior Shamriz) / Lior Shamriz (2023)

Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul Celan

2004 Poetry translation

A noted translation of Paul Celan's poems by McHugh and Nikolai Popov; winner of the Griffin Poetry Prize.

translationmemory of the Holocaustrupture and restoration of language

Bibliography

  • Dangers (1977)
  • A World of Difference (1981)
  • To the Quick (1987)
  • Shades (1988)
  • Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993 (1994)
  • Broken English: Poetry and Partiality (essays, 1993)
  • The Father of the Predicaments (1999)
  • Eyeshot (2003)
  • Upgraded to Serious (2009)
  • Muddy Matterhorn (2020)

Adaptations

  • Music/visual collaboration with Lior Shamriz for six poems (2023)

Translations by Author

  • D'Apres Tout — Poems by Jean Follain (translation, 1981)
  • Because the Sea Is Black — Poems by Blaga Dimitrova (translation, 1989, with Nikolai Popov)
  • Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul Celan (translation, with Nikolai Popov, 2004)
  • Euripides: Cyclops (translation, with David Konstan, 2001)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
linguistically playful and sonically rich styleprecise construction and attention to soundresistance to classification as confessional poetry
Recurring Motifs
uncertainty of languageobservation and memoryreversal of high and low registers

Legacy

Heather McHugh is a prominent voice in late 20th- and early 21st-century American poetry, acclaimed both for her original work and translations. As an educator she has influenced generations of younger poets.

Academic Societies

  • Academy of American Poets
  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Archives

  • University of Washington Libraries Special Collections (related papers)

Quotes

  • A poet who celebrates the uncertainty of language
    Source: The New York Times (review excerpt) (2020)
  • a vortex of strangeness
    Source: The New York Times (review of Muddy Matterhorn) (2020)

Trivia

  • Born in San Diego to Canadian parents and raised in Virginia.
  • Entered Harvard University at age 17.
  • Founded the nonprofit CAREGIFTED (2011–2012) to support long-term caregivers.