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John Meade Haines

ジョン・ミード・ヘインズ

John Meade Haines

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1924-06-29 （Norfolk, Virginia, United States）
Died
2011-03-02 （Fairbanks, Alaska, United States） age 86
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
California (various periods) → Hawaii (childhood) → Washington state (residence) → New England (brief periods) → Washington, D.C. (schooling/high school) → Fairbanks, Alaska (long-term residence, writing base) → San Diego, California (lived for several years after 1969)

Career

Occupations
poet, educator
Active Years
1948-2011
Affiliations
University of Alaska Fairbanks (faculty)
Memberships
Academy of American Poets
Influenced By
Richard Hugo, William Matthews
Influenced
Younger Alaskan poets

Education

National Art School
Period: 1946–1947
Studied art (painting)
American University
Art (painting and sculpture)
Period: 1948–1950
Country: United States
Worked as a draftsman at the Navy Department while studying
Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts
Period: 1950–1952
Country: United States
Studied painting; later moved to Alaska and developed his writing career there

Awards

Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry
2008
Result: 受賞
USA Rasmuson Fellow (United States Artists)
2007
Organization: United States Artists
Result: 受賞
Rasmuson Foundation Distinguished Artist
2005
Organization: Rasmuson Foundation
Result: 受賞
University of Alaska Northern Momentum Scholar
2002
Organization: University of Alaska
Result: 受賞
Fellow, Academy of American Poets
1997
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: 指名／受賞
Lifetime Achievement Award (Alaska Center for the Book / Library of Congress)
1994
Organization: Alaska Center for the Book / Library of Congress
Result: 受賞
Poets' Prize
1991
Organization: Poets' Prize
Result: 受賞
Alaska Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts
Organization: State of Alaska
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship (two awards)
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞（複数回）
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts
Result: 受賞
Amy Lowell Traveling Fellowship
1976
Organization: Amy Lowell Trust
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Winter News

1966 poetry collection

A collection set in the frozen Alaskan interior that contemplates death, hunting, and human existence with spare, dreamlike imagery.

naturedeathhuntingdream

The Stone Harp

1971 poetry collection

Poems that, against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, evoke intimacy with the natural world and reflections on time and being.

shadow of warnaturememory

Living Off the Country: Essays on Poetry and Place

1981 essays

A collection of essays on poetry and sense of place, reflecting on life and writing in Alaska.

sense of placeviews of natureart criticism

The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-five Years in the Northern Wilderness

1989 nonfiction / memoir

Essays and recollections of twenty-five years in the Alaskan wilderness, illuminating human experience through encounters with nature.

recollectionnatureliving

New Poems 1980–88

1990 poetry collection

A selection of poems from the 1980s characterized by concise, symbolic depictions of nature and existential themes.

existencelandscapetime

The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer

1993 poetry collection

A poetry collection using dreamlike and natural imagery; noted for its symbolic and quiet voice.

dreamnaturesymbolism

Fables and Distances: New and Selected Essays

1996 essays

A collection of new and selected essays on poetry and place, combining critical perspectives with personal recollections.

criticismrecollectionplace

At the End of This Summer: Poems 1948–1954

1997 poetry (selected)

A selected volume of poems from 1948 to 1954 showing early emergence of his natural themes and style.

early worknatureformative period

For the Century's End: Poems 1990–1999

2000 poetry (selected)

A selection of poems from the 1990s focusing on nature and time from a mature perspective.

maturitynaturetime

Winter-Light (audio CD)

2008 audio recording (readings)

An audio CD of readings from earlier collections of poems and essays, with introductions read by the author.

readingsretrospect

Bibliography

  • Winter-Light (audio CD, 2008)
  • For the Century's End: Poems 1990–1999
  • At the End of This Summer: Poems 1948–1954 (1997)
  • Fables and Distances: New and Selected Essays (1996)
  • The Owl in the Mask of the Dreamer (1993)
  • New Poems 1980–88 (1990)
  • The Stars, the Snow, the Fire: Twenty-five Years in the Northern Wilderness (1989)
  • News from the Glacier: Selected Poems 1960–1980 (1982)
  • Living Off the Country: Essays on Poetry and Place (1981)
  • Twenty Poems (1971)
  • The Stone Harp (1971)
  • Winter News (1966)
  • Other selected works and numerous anthology contributions

Style & Themes

Literary Style
concise, symbolic depictions of naturerestrained narrative voice with phrasal rhythmpersonal, introspective prose-poetic expression
Recurring Motifs
wilderness and landscapehunting and the hunteddeath and silencedream (Dreamtime)

Legacy

John Haines is known for poetry grounded in Alaskan experience that left a distinct voice of silence and introspection in late 20th-century American poetry. As an educator he contributed to nurturing regional poets and is regarded as an important figure in Alaskan literature.

Academic Societies

  • Academy of American Poets

Archives

  • John Meade Haines papers (Ohio University archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Influenced regional culture through inclusion in Alaskan and nature-writing anthologies and via published readings on audio.

Quotes

  • A good poem illuminates for a moment the context which existed before the poem.
    Source: Critical writings / interviews (citation needed)

Trivia

  • Served in the U.S. Navy as a Sonarman Third Class from 1943 to 1946.
  • In 1947 he claimed a 160-acre homestead in Alaska; unable to paint in the severe cold, he began writing poetry there.
  • He was awarded Guggenheim Fellowships twice.