World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

William Harmon

ウィリアム・ハーモン

Uiriamu Hāmon

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1938-01-01 （Concord, North Carolina）
Nationality
United States
Languages
English

Career

Occupations
Professor, Poet, Editor
Active Years
1958-2008
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Influenced By
Ezra Pound, Modernist poetry

Education

University of Chicago
Degree: 学士
Period: 1954-1958
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: United States
Bachelor's degree
University of Chicago
Degree: 修士
Period: 1960s
Year of Graduation: 1968
Country: United States
Post-graduate work focused on modernist poetry
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Degree: 修士
Period: 1960s
Year of Graduation: 1968
Country: United States
Additional master's degree
University of Cincinnati
Degree: 博士
Period: 1968-1970
Year of Graduation: 1970
Country: United States
Doctoral dissertation on Ezra Pound (later published)

Awards

Lamont Poetry Selection
1970
Work: Treasury Holiday: Thirty-Four Fits for the Opening of the Fiscal Year
Organization: Academy of American Poets
Result: 受賞
William Carlos Williams Award
1985
Work: Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices
Organization: Poetry Society of America
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Treasury Holiday: Thirty-Four Fits for the Opening of the Fiscal Year

1970 Poetry

An early collection combining formal experimentation and humor.

satirebureaucracy/institutionsformal experimentation

Legion: Civic Choruses

1973 Poetry

A chorus-like sequence of poems on civic life.

civic lifecommunity

The Intussusception of Miss Mary America

1976 Poetry

A collection featuring experimental and image-rich sequences.

portraitureimagism

One Long Poem

1982 Poetry

Centered on a long sequence poem, experimenting with narrative and fragment.

narrativefragmentation

Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices

1985 Poetry

One of his later collections featuring witty, rhythm-focused short poems.

humorwordplay

Bibliography

  • Treasury Holiday: Thirty-Four Fits for the Opening of the Fiscal Year (1970)
  • Legion: Civic Choruses (1973)
  • The Intussusception of Miss Mary America (1976)
  • One Long Poem (1982)
  • Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices (1985)
  • A Handbook to Literature (editor, 5th–12th eds., 1984–2011)
  • Classic Writings on Poetry (2005) (editor)
  • The Classic Hundred: All-Time Favorite Poems (2nd ed., 1998) (editor)
  • The Top 500 Poems (1992) (editor)
  • The Oxford Book of American Light Verse (1979) (editor)
  • Time in Ezra Pound's Work (1977)
  • The Poetry Toolkit (2012)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Experimental verse influenced by modernismConcise, witty dictionInterest in form (integration of long and short forms, sequences)
Recurring Motifs
bureaucracy and the individualurbanity and communitywordplay and humor

Legacy

William Harmon left a notable legacy as a scholar, poet, and editor — particularly for his long-term editorship of A Handbook to Literature, his poetry collections, and the extensive donation of his correspondence, which are valuable resources for American poetry studies.

Museums

  • Louis Round Wilson Library (holds the William Harmon Papers) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Academic Societies

  • Poetry Society of America (related)

Archives

  • Southern Historical Collection (Wilson Library, UNC Chapel Hill)

Trivia

  • Donated an extensive correspondence collection (around 10,000 items) to the Wilson Library at UNC Chapel Hill (the William Harmon Papers).
  • Served on active duty in the United States Navy in the 1960s and in 1967 worked in Vietnam as an adviser to the South Vietnamese Navy.
  • Authored the South Vietnamese Navy's Standard Ship's Organization Manual.
  • Treasury Holiday (1970) was selected as the Lamont Poetry Selection.
  • Won the Poetry Society of America's William Carlos Williams Award in 1985 for Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices.
  • Edited A Handbook to Literature from 1984 to 2011.