Gerald Stern

Gerald Stern
Image of Gerald Stern wearing a hat
Gerald Stern at the Miami Book Fair International in 2011
Born(1925-02-22)February 22, 1925
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
DiedOctober 28, 2022(2022-10-28) (aged 97)
New York, NY
Occupationpoet, essayist, educator
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Pittsburgh (BA)
Columbia University (MA)
University of Paris
SpousePatricia Miller (m.1952, divorced)
PartnerAnne Marie Macari
Children2, Rachael, David

Gerald Stern (February 22, 1925 - October 28, 2022) was an American poet, essayist and educator. He was the author of twenty collections of poetry and four books of essays. Stern taught literature and creative writing at Temple University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Raritan Valley Community College, and Iowa Writers' Workshop.[1]

From 2009, Stern was the distinguished poet-in-residence and a member of the faculty of Drew University's graduate program for a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in poetry. In 2000, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman appointed Stern as the state's first poet laureate.[2]

Stern's poetry was nominated for and honored with a number of awards. Leaving Another Kingdom (1990) was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.[3] This Time: New and Selected Poems (1998) won the National Book Award in 1998.[4] American Sonnets (2002) was a finalist for the 2003 International Griffin Poetry Prize.[5]

Praise for Stern's poetry came late in life. One reviewer called Lucky Life, published when Stern was over 50, "a cornerstone in American poetry."[6] He died in The Bronx, New York City when he was 97 years old.[7][8]

Books

  • The Naming of Beasts (1973)
  • Rejoicings: Selected Poems 1966-72 (1973)
  • Lucky Life (1977)
  • The Red Coal (1981)
  • Paradise Poems (1984)
  • Lovesick (1986)
  • Two Long Poems (1990)
  • Leaving Another Kingdom: Selected Poems (1990)
  • Bread without Sugar (1992)
  • Odd Mercy (1994)
  • This Time: New and Selected Poems (1998)
  • Last Blue (2000)
  • American Sonnets (2002)
  • Everything Is Burning (2005)
  • Save the Last Dance: Poems (2008)
  • Early Collected Poems, 1965-1992 (2010)
  • In Beauty Bright (2012)
  • Divine Nothingness (2015)
  • Blessed As We Were: Late Selected and New Poems, 2000—2018 (2020)

References

  1. ↑ "Pennsylvania Center for the Book". pabook.libraries.psu.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  2. ↑ "Gerald Stern". American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  3. ↑ "Pulitzer Prizes: Poetry". The Pulitzer Prizes. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  4. ↑ "National Book Awards 1998". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  5. ↑ "Finalists & Winners". Griffin Poetry Prize. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  6. ↑ "Web Del Sol Review of Books". wdsreviewofbooks.webdelsol.com. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  7. ↑ Genzlinger, Neil (2022-10-29). "Gerald Stern, Poet of Wistfulness, Anger and Humor, Dies at 97". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
  8. ↑ "Gerald Stern, prize-winning and lyrical poet, dies at 97". NPR. October 30, 2022. Retrieved January 13, 2023.

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