Lannan Literary Awards
5 appearances
-
Edition 41 (2002) Winner
Peter Dale Scott
ピーター・デール・スコット
Peter Dale Scott
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1929-01-11 （Montreal, Quebec, Canada）
- Nationality
- Canadian
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Montreal (birth / childhood) → Paris (studies at Institut d'Etudes Politiques) → Oxford (University College) → Berkeley, California (long-term residence / employment)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Academic, Diplomat
- Active Years
- 1949-
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley — Professor Emeritus of English
- Influenced By
- T. S. Eliot
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McGill University | — | Philosophy / Political Science | B.A. (undergraduate) | 1945-1949 | Canada |
| Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) | — | — | — | 1949 | France |
| University College, Oxford | — | — | — | 1950-1952 | United Kingdom |
| McGill University (Ph.D.) | — | Political Science | Ph.D. | 1952-1955 | Canada |
McGill University
Philosophy / Political Science
Degree:
B.A. (undergraduate)
Period:
1945-1949
Year of Graduation:
1949
Country:
Canada
Undergraduate degrees in philosophy (first-class honours) and political science (second-class honours)
Institut d'Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po)
Period:
1949
Year of Graduation:
1949
Country:
France
Short-term study / exchange
University College, Oxford
Period:
1950-1952
Year of Graduation:
1952
Country:
United Kingdom
Studied at University College (1950–1952)
McGill University (Ph.D.)
Political Science
Degree:
Ph.D.
Period:
1952-1955
Year of Graduation:
1955
Country:
Canada
Dissertation on the social and political philosophy of T. S. Eliot
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Lannan Literary Award | — | — | Lannan Foundation | winner |
Lannan Literary Award
2002
Organization:
Lannan Foundation
Result:
winner
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Cocaine Politics: Drugs, Armies, and the CIA in Central America
1991 Political non-fictionAn investigative analysis of drug trafficking in Central America and U.S. involvement, examining the roles of militaries and intelligence agencies (co-authored).
drugsU.S. foreign policyintelligence agencies
Translations
- Translated into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Indonesian, etc.
Deep Politics and the Death of JFK
1993 Political investigationA major work exploring the assassination of JFK and structures of deep politics; received mixed critical response.
JFK assassinationdeep stategovernment cover-ups
Translations
- Translated into multiple languages
Minding the Darkness: A Poem for the Year 2000
2000 Long-form epic poemConsidered by Scott his most important poetic work: a long poem blending political events and personal recollection.
violence and terrorindividual and politicsmemory
Translations
- Poems translated into Indonesian and other languages
The Road to 9/11: Wealth, Empire and the Future of America
2007 Contemporary political analysisDiscusses geopolitical contexts leading to 9/11 and argues for continuities in U.S. foreign policy and possible cover-ups.
terrorismforeign policypossible cover-ups
Translations
- French edition 'La Route vers le Nouveau Désordre Mondial', among others
American War Machine: Deep Politics, the CIA Global Drug Connection, and the Road to Afghanistan
2010 Political non-fictionExamines interconnections of drugs, oil, and war, and discusses links between the CIA and international drug networks.
drugsmilitary interventionintelligence agencies
Translations
- French edition 'La Machine de Guerre Américaine', among others
The American Deep State: Wall Street, Big Oil, and the Attack on U.S. Democracy
2014 Political commentaryDiscusses the influence of Wall Street and big oil and their impact on U.S. democracy.
elite controleconomics and politicsthreats to democracy
Translations
- Translated into multiple languages
Coming to Jakarta: A Poem About Terror
1989 Epic poemA long poem dealing with the 1965 crisis in Indonesia; intertwines personal recollection and political indictment.
terrormass violencepersonal memory
Translations
- Translated into Indonesian, Serbo-Croatian, Hungarian, etc.
Bibliography
- The War Conspiracy (1972)
- The Assassinations: Dallas and Beyond (1976)
- Cocaine Politics (1991)
- Deep Politics and the Death of JFK (1993)
- Minding the Darkness (2000)
- The Road to 9/11 (2007)
- American War Machine (2010)
- The American Deep State (2014)
- Poetry and Terror (2018)
Adaptations
- Appearances and interviews in documentaries and video recordings
Translations of Works
- La Route vers le Nouveau Désordre Mondial (French edition of The Road to 9/11)
- La Machine de Guerre Américaine (French edition of American War Machine)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Lyric long-form poetry often accompanied by scholarly notesInvestigative, evidence-focused political nonfiction
- Recurring Motifs
- deep politicsstate-drug linkageswar and capitalintersection of individual and politics
Legacy
Scott is both a poet and a 'poet-scholar' who combined literary practice with political investigation. He popularized the concept of deep politics and influenced discourse on U.S. foreign policy and drug-related geopolitics.
Archives
- UC Berkeley English Department archives and materials on his personal website
In Popular Culture
- Cited by filmmakers and journalists such as Oliver Stone; referenced in popular discussions of conspiracies and deep state
Quotes
-
To have learnt from terror to see oneself as part of the enemy can be a reassurance.
Source: Coming to Jakarta (1989)
Trivia
- One of the signatories of the 1968 'Writers and Editors War Tax Protest', pledging to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
- Trained as a political scientist but held an atypical academic appointment as a poet-scholar in an English department.