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Robert Pinsky

ロバート・ピンスキー

Robāto Pinskī

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-10-20 （Long Branch, New Jersey, U.S.）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Long Branch, New Jersey (birth) → Cambridge, Massachusetts (since 1989)

Career

Occupations
poet, literary critic, editor, translator, academic
Active Years
1968-
Affiliations
Boston University (Professor, Graduate Writing Program), Wellesley College (former faculty), University of California, Berkeley (former faculty)
Memberships
Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Jazz (music), Yvor Winters, Francis Fergusson, Paul Fussell
Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry nomination (1996) for The Figured Wheel, National Book Critics Circle Award nomination (1988) for Poetry and the World

Education

Rutgers University–New Brunswick
Degree: BA
Country: United States
Received B.A.
Stanford University
Degree: MA, PhD
Country: United States
Stegner Fellowship in creative writing

Awards

Premio Capri
2009
Organization: Premio Capri (Italy)
Result: 受賞
Manhae Foundation Prize
2006
Organization: Manhae Foundation
Result: 受賞
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
2004
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞
Golden Plate Award
1998
Organization: American Academy of Achievement
Result: 受賞
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
1997
Category: 任期制
Organization: Library of Congress
Result: 任命（3期務めた）
National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
1974
Organization: National Endowment for the Humanities
Result: 受賞
Saxifrage Prize
1980
Work: An Explanation of America
Organization: Saxifrage Prize
Result: 受賞
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
1997
Work: The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966–1996
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: 受賞
Los Angeles Times Book Award
1994
Work: Translation of Dante's Inferno
Category: 翻訳
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞
Academy of American Poets Translation Award
1994
Work: Translation of Dante's Inferno
Category: 翻訳
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966–1996

1996 poetry

A collected volume spanning thirty years of work, showcasing Pinsky's musical sense of rhythm and recurring concerns with memory and history.

musicmemoryAmerican landscape

Jersey Rain

2000 poetry

Poems reflecting on his New Jersey origins, landscape, and personal memory.

place of originmemorypersonal landscapes

Gulf Music

2007 poetry

A collection emphasizing musicality and rhythmic concerns in his poetry.

musicmeterphysicality of language

Selected Poems

2011 poetry (selected)

A selection of major poems that has served to consolidate his international reputation.

musicalitypersonal historysocial perspective

Translation of Dante's Inferno

1993 translation (epic poetry)

An English translation of Dante's Inferno (part of The Divine Comedy), praised as a significant translation achievement.

translationclassics

Bibliography

  • The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966–1996
  • Jersey Rain
  • Gulf Music
  • Selected Poems
  • At the Foundling Hospital
  • Translation of Dante's Inferno
  • Jersey Breaks: Becoming an American Poet (memoir)

Adaptations

  • Libretto for the opera 'Death and the Powers'
  • Free adaptation of Schiller's 'Wallenstein' staged by the Shakespeare Theatre

Translations by Author

  • English translation of Dante's Inferno

Translations of Works

  • Pinsky's collections have been translated into Italian, Korean and other languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
musical, oral-oriented poetic styleclear attention to the physical sound and rhythm of language
Recurring Motifs
music/jazzmemory and personal historyAmerican landscape

Legacy

Pinsky is known for his emphasis on the oral and musical qualities of poetry and for broadening public engagement with poetry through initiatives like the Favorite Poem Project. He is also recognized for translation work, contributions to theatre and opera, and his long career as an educator.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (member)

Archives

  • Library of Congress (related holdings)
  • Boston University (faculty archives)

In Popular Culture

  • Guest appearance on the animated sitcom 'The Simpsons'
  • Appearances on television programs such as The Colbert Report

Quotes

  • The poetry I love is vocal, composed with the poet's voice and I believe its proper culmination is to be read with a reader's imagined or actual voice.
    Source: Interview / The Paris Review (Art of Poetry No. 76) (1997)

Trivia

  • First U.S. Poet Laureate to serve three terms.
  • Involved with the 1984 interactive fiction game 'Mindwheel'.
  • Former saxophonist; jazz has had a strong influence on his poetry.
  • Guest-starred on 'The Simpsons'.