National Poetry Series
1 appearances
Paul Zimmer
ポール・ジマー
Pōru Jimā
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1934 （Canton, Ohio, U.S.）
- Nationality
- American
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Canton, Ohio → Kent, Ohio (Kent State University) → Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania → Iowa (worked with university press) → Georgia (worked with university press)
Career
- Occupations
- poet, editor, director of university press
- Active Years
- 1954-
- Affiliations
- University of Georgia Press (director), University of Iowa Press (director), University of Pittsburgh Press (director), Kent State University (holds his papers)
- Memberships
- American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent State University | — | — | Bachelor of Arts and Science | — | United States |
Kent State University
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts and Science
Year of Graduation:
1968
Country:
United States
Initially dropped out of college in the 1950s, later returned and received degree in 1968.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Open Book Award | — | — | American Society of Journalists and Authors | recipient |
| — | American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters | — | — | American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters | member/recipient |
| 1998 | National Poetry Series | The Great Bird of Love | — | National Poetry Series | winner |
| 2004 | Distinguished Alumni Award | — | — | College of Arts and Sciences, Kent State University | recipient |
| — | NEA fellowship | — | — | National Endowment for the Arts | recipient (2回) |
| — | Helen Bullis Memorial Award | — | — | unknown | recipient |
| — | Pushcart Prize | — | — | Pushcart Press | recipient (2回) |
| 2005 | Ohioana Award | — | — | Ohioana Library Association | recipient |
Open Book Award
Organization:
American Society of Journalists and Authors
Result:
recipient
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Organization:
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Result:
member/recipient
National Poetry Series
1998
Work:
The Great Bird of Love
Organization:
National Poetry Series
Result:
winner
Distinguished Alumni Award
2004
Organization:
College of Arts and Sciences, Kent State University
Result:
recipient
NEA fellowship
Organization:
National Endowment for the Arts
Result:
recipient (2回)
Helen Bullis Memorial Award
Organization:
unknown
Result:
recipient
Pushcart Prize
Organization:
Pushcart Press
Result:
recipient (2回)
Ohioana Award
2005
Organization:
Ohioana Library Association
Result:
recipient
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
The Ribs of Death
1967 PoetryZimmer's first poetry collection, containing poems that draw on personal memory and working-class experience.
memorylaborMidwest
The Republic of Many Voices
1969 PoetryA collection that depicts American landscapes and people through multiple perspectives and voices.
voicecommunity
A Seed in the Wind
1975 PoetryPoems focused on nature, change, and personal history.
naturetransience
The Zimmer Poems
1976 PoetryOne of Zimmer's notable collections, weaving regional elements with personal memory.
familyhome
With Wanda: Town and Country Poems
1980 PoetryA collection contrasting town and country life in poem form.
rural lifetowncontrast
Family Reunion: Selected and New Poems
1983 PoetryA 'selected and new' volume featuring poems that confront family and the past.
familyrecollection
The Great Bird of Love
1989 PoetryPoems on love, loss, and nature. Selected in the National Poetry Series (noted in sources).
lovelossnature
Big Blue Train
1993 PoetryA collection using trains and travel as motifs, strongly evoking Midwestern landscapes.
trainsjourneyMidwest
Crossing Into Sunlight
1996 PoetryA selected volume compiling poems from many years of Zimmer's work.
agingremembrance
Crossing to Sunlight Revisited
2007 PoetryA follow-up to the 1996 selection, compiling new and older poems from an elder perspective.
old ageretrospective
Bibliography
- The Ribs of Death (1967)
- The Republic of Many Voices (1969)
- A Seed in the Wind (1975)
- The Zimmer Poems (1976)
- With Wanda: Town and Country Poems (1980)
- Family Reunion: Selected and New Poems (1983)
- The Great Bird of Love (1989)
- Big Blue Train (1993)
- Crossing Into Sunlight (1996)
- Trains in the distance (memoir, 2003)
- After the fire: a writer finds his place (memoir, 2002)
- Crossing to Sunlight Revisited (2007)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- lyricalpost-confessional elementsnarrative fragments
- Recurring Motifs
- trainssunlight/brightnessfamilybirdsOhio/Midwest landscape
Legacy
Paul Zimmer is known for poems addressing Midwestern themes, personal memory, and working-class experience. He is also respected for his work as a director of university presses and for helping found the Pitt Poetry Series. His papers at Kent State University serve as research resources.
Academic Societies
- American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Archives
- Paul Zimmer Papers (Special Collections, Kent State University)
- Dryad Press records (University of Maryland Libraries)
In Popular Culture
- Poem "Suck It Up" included in the anthology Good Poems for Hard Times (ed. Garrison Keillor)
- Included in Billy Collins' anthology Poetry 180
Quotes
-
“It is not often that a 'new and selected' documents the progressions, departures, and returns of a writer's consciousness as lucidly and profoundly as Paul Zimmer's Crossing to Sunlight Revisited.”
Source: Melinda Wilson, Cold Front (review) (2007)
Trivia
- He once dropped out of college and worked in a steel mill.
- Served in the United States Army as a journalist from 1954 to 1955.
- Received degree from Kent State University in 1968.
- Directed university presses (Georgia, Iowa, Pittsburgh) and helped found the Pitt Poetry Series.
- Received two NEA fellowships.
- Won two Pushcart Prizes.