Los Angeles Times Book Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 21 (2000) Winner
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
ローレンス・モンサント・ファーリンゲッティ
Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti
Pen Names:
Larry Ferling（Shortened surname used in early works and signatures）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1919-03-24 （Yonkers, New York, U.S.）
- Died
- 2021-02-22 （San Francisco, California, U.S.） age 101
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Yonkers, New York → Paris, France — study/research period → San Francisco, California
Career
- Occupations
- poet, painter, social activist, publisher, bookseller, essayist, playwright
- Active Years
- 1940-2021
- Affiliations
- City Lights (founder), American Academy of Arts and Letters (member)
- Memberships
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
- Influenced By
- Kenneth Rexroth, T. S. Eliot, William Carlos Williams
- Influenced
- Beat poets / Beat Generation, San Francisco literary and cultural scene, Musicians (e.g. Frank Zappa)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Hermon School for Boys (Northfield Mount Hermon) | — | — | — | 〜1937 | United States |
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | — | Journalism | B.A. | 1937–1941 | United States |
| Columbia University | — | English Literature | M.A. | 1946–1947 | United States |
| University of Paris (Sorbonne) | — | Comparative Literature | Ph.D. | 1947–1950s（正確年不明） | France |
Mount Hermon School for Boys (Northfield Mount Hermon)
Period:
〜1937
Year of Graduation:
1937
Country:
United States
Preparatory school (secondary education)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Journalism
Degree:
B.A.
Period:
1937–1941
Year of Graduation:
1941
Country:
United States
Wrote sports for the student newspaper
Columbia University
English Literature
Degree:
M.A.
Period:
1946–1947
Year of Graduation:
1947
Country:
United States
Wrote a thesis on John Ruskin and J. M. W. Turner
University of Paris (Sorbonne)
Comparative Literature
Degree:
Ph.D.
Period:
1947–1950s（正確年不明）
Country:
France
Dissertation on 'The City as Symbol in Modern Poetry'
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Robert Kirsch Award | — | — | Los Angeles Times | 受賞 |
| 2003 | Frost Medal | — | — | Poetry Society of America | 受賞 |
| 2005 | Literarian Award (inaugural) | — | — | National Book Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2008 | John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry | — | Lifetime Achievement | Italian Americana / National Italian American Foundation | 受賞 |
| 2012 | Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize | — | — | Hungarian PEN Club | 辞退（賞金の資金提供元に反対して受賞を辞退） |
| 1973 | Premio Taormina | — | — | Italian literary honors | 受賞 |
Robert Kirsch Award
Organization:
Los Angeles Times
Result:
受賞
Frost Medal
2003
Organization:
Poetry Society of America
Result:
受賞
Literarian Award (inaugural)
2005
Organization:
National Book Foundation
Result:
受賞
John Ciardi Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry
2008
Category:
Lifetime Achievement
Organization:
Italian Americana / National Italian American Foundation
Result:
受賞
Janus Pannonius International Poetry Prize
2012
Organization:
Hungarian PEN Club
Result:
辞退（賞金の資金提供元に反対して受賞を辞退）
Premio Taormina
1973
Organization:
Italian literary honors
Result:
受賞
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
A Coney Island of the Mind
1958 Poetry collection 96 pagesA signature collection emphasizing visual imagery and populist perspectives, containing poems that reflect on American life in the 1950s, consumerism, and individual emotion.
urban lifeeveryday experienceconsumerismhumor and pathos
Adaptations
- [film / documentary (recitation)] The Last Waltz (poem recitation within the documentary) / Martin Scorsese (1978)
Translations
- Translated into nine languages (notably translated widely)
Pictures of the Gone World
1955 Poetry collection 48 pagesEarly collection featuring visual, story-like poems; originally published as part of City Lights' Pocket Poets series and demonstrating the seeds of his later style.
visualityimages of the citycivil life
Bibliography
- Pictures of the Gone World (1955)
- A Coney Island of the Mind (1958)
- Starting from San Francisco (1961)
- Love in the Days of Rage (1988)
- Poetry as Insurgent Art (2007)
- Little Boy (2019)
Adaptations
- Recitation in The Last Waltz (documentary film)
- Portrayed in the film Howl (2010)
Translations of Works
- A Coney Island of the Mind has been translated into nine languages and widely read.
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- colloquial, populist poetic voicevisual, image-driven descriptionsjazz-influenced spontaneity in free verse
- Recurring Motifs
- cityscapeseveryday life as allegorypolitical and social critiquevisual/painting motifs
Health
-
interstitial lung disease晩年（〜2021）Listed as the cause of death. Likely imposed physical limitations on late-life activities.
Legacy
Lawrence Ferlinghetti founded City Lights bookstore and press, bringing Beat poets to public attention and significantly impacting American poetry and publishing. As a poet he combined visuality and populist concerns and remained active throughout his life.
Museums
- National Museum of American History (holds Ferlinghetti's typewriter) Washington, D.C., United States
Academic Societies
- American Academy of Arts and Letters
Archives
- The Bancroft Library (Guide to the Lawrence Ferlinghetti Papers)
In Popular Culture
- Poem recitation in The Last Waltz
- Portrayed in the film Howl
- Mentioned as an influence by musicians such as Frank Zappa
Quotes
-
If you would be a poet, create works capable of answering the challenge of apocalyptic times, even if this meaning sounds apocalyptic.
Source: Poetry as Insurgent Art (excerpt) (2007)
Trivia
- Arrested in 1957 for publishing Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl' but acquitted on obscenity charges.
- When he turned 100 in 2019 the city of San Francisco declared March 24 'Lawrence Ferlinghetti Day.'
- Declined the Janus Pannonius prize in 2012 in protest of the Hungarian government's politics.