Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1 appearances
-
Edition 41 (1960) Winner
William De Witt Snodgrass
ウィリアム・デ・ウィット・スノッドグラス
William De Witt Snodgrass
Aliases:
W. D. Snodgrass / De
Pen Names:
S. S. Gardons（Pseudonym used in some writings）
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1926-01-05 （Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, US）
- Died
- 2009-01-13 （Erieville, Madison County, New York, US） age 83
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, US → Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, US → Ithaca, New York, US (during Cornell tenure) → Rochester, New York, US (during University of Rochester tenure) → Detroit, Michigan, US (during Wayne State University tenure) → Syracuse, New York, US (during Syracuse University tenure) → Norfolk, Virginia, US (during Old Dominion University tenure) → Newark, Delaware, US (during University of Delaware tenure) → Erieville, New York, US (later life)
Career
- Occupations
- Poet, Professor
- Active Years
- 1951-2009
- Affiliations
- Cornell University, University of Rochester, Wayne State University, Syracuse University, Old Dominion University, University of Delaware
- Influenced By
- John Berryman, Randall Jarrell, Robert Lowell
- Influenced
- Robert Lowell
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geneva College | — | — | — | 1943-1944 | United States |
| University of Iowa | — | Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry) | BA | 1946-1949 | United States |
| University of Iowa | — | Poetry | MA | 1949-1951 | United States |
| University of Iowa | — | Poetry | MFA | 1951-1953 | United States |
Geneva College
Period:
1943-1944
Country:
United States
Drafted into the United States Navy during WWII; left the college in 1944.
University of Iowa
Iowa Writers' Workshop (Poetry)
Degree:
BA
Period:
1946-1949
Year of Graduation:
1949
Country:
United States
Attended the Iowa Writers' Workshop; originally intended to be a playwright but joined the poetry workshop.
University of Iowa
Poetry
Degree:
MA
Period:
1949-1951
Year of Graduation:
1951
Country:
United States
Master of Arts.
University of Iowa
Poetry
Degree:
MFA
Period:
1951-1953
Year of Graduation:
1953
Country:
United States
Received a Master of Fine Arts degree.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | Pulitzer Prize for Poetry | Heart's Needle | — | Pulitzer Prize Board | 受賞 |
| 1959 | The Hudson Review Fellowship in Poetry | — | — | The Hudson Review | 受賞 |
| 1959 | Ingram Merrill Foundation Poetry Prize | — | — | Ingram Merrill Foundation | 受賞 |
| 1959 | Citation from the Poetry Society of America | Heart's Needle | — | Poetry Society of America | 受賞 |
| 1959 | Grant from the National Institute of Arts | — | — | National Institute of Arts | 助成 |
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1960
Work:
Heart's Needle
Organization:
Pulitzer Prize Board
Result:
受賞
The Hudson Review Fellowship in Poetry
1959
Organization:
The Hudson Review
Result:
受賞
Ingram Merrill Foundation Poetry Prize
1959
Organization:
Ingram Merrill Foundation
Result:
受賞
Citation from the Poetry Society of America
1959
Work:
Heart's Needle
Organization:
Poetry Society of America
Result:
受賞
Grant from the National Institute of Arts
1959
Organization:
National Institute of Arts
Result:
助成
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Heart's Needle
1959 Poetry collectionAn autobiographical, confessional collection concerning his separation from his daughter; it candidly explores personal anguish and loss of fatherhood and is often cited as an early example of confessional poetry.
parent-child relationshipsseparationconfessionguiltmemory
After Experience: Poems and Translations
1968 Poems and translationsA collection combining original poems and translations, attempting a dialogue between translated materials and original poetic practice.
translationmemoryformal experimentation
Leaving the Motel
1968 Poetry collectionA collection of poems from the late 1960s, encompassing themes of everyday life and recollection.
everyday lifetravelrecollection
The Führer Bunker: The Complete Cycle
1995 Long poem / Dramatic cycleA cycle of long poems presenting monologues by Adolf Hitler and his circle in the final days of the Third Reich; begun in 1977 and completed in 1995.
historycollapse of powerexploration of evil
Adaptations
- [Stage] The Führer Bunker (stage adaptation)
Not for Specialists: New and Selected Poems
2006 New and selected poemsA late-career selection combining new poems with selected earlier work, reflecting on his poetic career.
retrospectionformal diversity
Bibliography
- 1959: Heart's Needle
- 1968: After Experience: Poems and Translations
- 1968: Leaving the Motel
- 1970: Remains
- 1977: The Führer Bunker: A Cycle of Poems in Progress
- 1979: If Birds Build with Your Hair
- 1981: These Trees Stand
- 1982: Heinrich Himmler
- 1983: The Boy Made of Meat
- 1983: Magda Goebbels
- 1984: D. D. Byrde Callying Jennie Wrenn
- 1986: The Kinder Capers
- 1986: A Locked House
- 1987: Selected Poems: 1957–1987
- 1988: W. D.'s Midnight Carnival
- 1989: The Death of Cock Robin
- 1993: Each in His Season
- 1995: The Führer Bunker: The Complete Cycle
- 1999: After-images: Autobiographical Sketches
- 2001: De/Compositions: 101 Good Poems Gone Wrong
- 2002: To Sound Like Yourself: Essays on Poetry
- 2006: Not for Specialists: New and Selected Poems
Adaptations
- Stage adaptation of The Führer Bunker (performed in the 1980s)
Translations by Author
- Traditional Hungarian Songs
- Six Troubadour Songs
- Six Minnesinger Songs
- Five Romanian Ballads
- Selected Translations
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Autobiographical, candid confessional voiceFormal experimentation combined with classical techniqueDramatic monologues using historical personae
- Recurring Motifs
- separation and parenthoodguilt and atonementmemory and revisiting the pasthuman aspects of history and violence
Health
-
Lung cancer2008年後半 - 2009年1月（約4か月）He died of the disease in January 2009 after about a four-month battle; it severely affected his ability to continue activities.
Legacy
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Heart's Needle and regarded as one of the pioneers of confessional poetry, though he disliked the label. With a long teaching career and diverse poetic output, he left a lasting influence on late 20th-century English-language poetry.
In Popular Culture
- Heart's Needle is repeatedly cited in critical studies and anthologies as an origin point for confessional poetry.
Trivia
- Used the pseudonym S. S. Gardons for some writings.
- Known to friends as 'De' but published under his initials.
- Heart's Needle deals with separation from his first wife and the resulting estrangement from his daughter.
- Taught at Cornell, University of Rochester, Wayne State, Syracuse, Old Dominion, and University of Delaware.
- Retired from teaching in 1994 to devote himself to writing.
- Won the Pulitzer Prize in 1960.