World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Stanley Plumly

スタンレー・プラムリー

Sutanrē Puramurī

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1939-05-23 （Barnesville, Ohio, U.S.）
Died
2019-04-11 （Frederick, Maryland, U.S.） age 79
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Religion
Quakerism
Residence History
Ohio, U.S. (childhood and early life) → Virginia, U.S. (grew up) → Maryland, U.S. (later life, University of Maryland)

Career

Occupations
Poet, Professor
Active Years
1969-2019
Affiliations
Ohio University (faculty), University of Maryland, College Park (director of creative writing/program faculty)
Influenced By
John Keats, English Romantic poets (general)

Education

Wilmington College (Ohio)
Country: United States
Graduated from Wilmington College; later entered academic career
Ohio University
Country: United States
Taught at Ohio University and helped found The Ohio Review

Awards

Poet Laureate for the State of Maryland
Organization: State of Maryland
Result: 受賞
Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism
2015
Category: 文学批評
Organization: Iowa University (award administration)
Result: 受賞
John William Corrington Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature
2010
Organization: Unknown
Result: 受賞
Beall Award in Biography from PEN
2009
Work: Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography
Category: 伝記
Organization: PEN
Result: 受賞
Paterson Poetry Prize
2008
Work: Old Heart
Category: 詩
Organization: Paterson Literary Committee
Result: 受賞
LA Times Book Prize
2008
Work: Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞
Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award
1972
Organization: Unknown
Result: 受賞
Ingram Merrill Foundation Award
Organization: Ingram Merrill Foundation
Result: 受賞
Pushcart Prize (multiple)
Organization: Pushcart Press
Result: 受賞（6回）
Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Letters
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

In the Outer Dark

1970 Poetry

Early collection featuring poems on rural life, memory, and personal history.

rural lifememorypersonal history

How the Plains Indians Got Horses

1973 Poetry

Collection integrating mythic and historical imagination.

mythhistory

Giraffe

1974 Poetry

Contains poems emphasizing striking imagery and lyrical observation.

imagerynature

Out-of-the-Body Travel

1977 Poetry

Poems exploring transcendent experiences and interior journeys.

transcendenceinteriority

Summer Celestial

1983 Poetry

A lyrical collection meditating on nature and the passage of time.

naturetime

Boy on the Step

1989 Poetry

Mature collection blending personal memory with historical awareness.

memorymaturity

The Marriage in the Trees

1997 Poetry

Poems that treat nature and relationships in an allegorical manner.

naturehuman relationships

Now that my father lies down beside me: new & selected poems, 1970 to 2000

2000 Poetry (Selected)

Selected poems from 1970 to 2000, emphasizing memory and relationships including meditations on his father.

familymemorytime

Old Heart

2007 Poetry

A mature book of poems showing strong engagement with English literature, notably Keats.

dialogue with the classicsdeathnature

Orphan Hours

2012 Poetry

Collection addressing loss, solitude, and the passage of time.

losssolitude

Against Sunset

2016 Poetry

Late-career collection, retrospective and lyrical in tone.

retrospectionnature

Middle Distance

2020 Poetry

Published posthumously in 2020; continues late-life themes.

late lifememory

Bibliography

  • In the Outer Dark (1970)
  • How the Plains Indians Got Horses (1973)
  • Giraffe (1974)
  • Out-of-the-Body Travel (1977)
  • Summer Celestial (1983)
  • Boy on the Step (1989)
  • The Marriage in the Trees (1997)
  • Now that my father lies down beside me (2000)
  • Old Heart (2007)
  • Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography (2008)
  • The Immortal Evening (2014)
  • Elegy Landscapes (2018)
  • Orphan Hours (2012)
  • Against Sunset (2016)
  • Middle Distance (2020)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyrical style with strong affinities to classical English poetryEmphasis on rich imagery and musicality
Recurring Motifs
memorynaturedeath and lossreferences to the classics (notably Keats)

Health

  • Multiple myeloma
    晩年（診断年など詳細不明）
    Illness progressed and led to death in 2019. Likely affected late-career writing and activities.

Legacy

Stanley Plumly is regarded as a leading lyrical voice in contemporary American poetry. Known for his deep engagement with the English Romantics—especially Keats—and poems rooted in rural memory, he was widely respected in academia and publishing.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Letters (award recipient)

Archives

  • University of Maryland related archives (held materials)

In Popular Culture

  • Publication of poems and obituaries in major outlets such as The New Yorker and national newspapers

Quotes

  • "He was called 'the most English American poet'."
    Source: The New York Times (obituary and articles) (2019)

Trivia

  • Helped found The Ohio Review while at Ohio University.
  • Married to Margaret (Forian) Plumly.
  • Received the Pushcart Prize on multiple occasions (reported as six times).