Kenneth Koch

Kenneth Koch
BornKenneth Koch
(1925-02-27)February 27, 1925
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
DiedJuly 6, 2002(2002-07-06) (aged 77)
New York, New York, U.S.
OccupationPoet, professor
Alma materHarvard University
Columbia University
Period1953–2002
Literary movementSurrealism, The New York School, Postmodernism
Notable works
Thank You, and Other Poems; The Art of Love; Wishes, Lies and Dreams: Teaching Children to Write Poetry
Notable awardsGuggenheim Fellowship, Bollingen Prize

Kenneth Koch (February, 27 1925 – July 6, 2002) was an American poet, playwright, and teacher.

As a student at Harvard University, Koch met fellow students Frank O’Hara and John Ashbery. With them and others in the 1950s, he was part of what people called The New York School, a loose group of poets and painters. At Harvard, he received a bachelor of arts degree. Then he attended Columbia University for his PhD..[1]

He taught at Columbia University. He thought about how to teach children and older people to write poetry. He explained these ways in books like Wishes, Lies and Dreams; Rose, Where Did You Get That Red; and I Never Told Anybody.[2]

He was known for using much humor in his poems.[2][3]

New Addresses (2000) was a finalist for the National Book Award.[4] One Train and On the Great Atlantic Rainway, Selected Poems 1950–1988 both earned him the Bollingen Prize in 1995.[5] He won the Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Prize for Poetry in 1996.[6] He was given three Fulbright scholarships and a National Endowment for the Arts grant.[3]

Books

  • Poems (1953)
  • Ko: or, A Season on Earth (1959)
  • Thank You and Other Poems (1962)
  • Bertha, & other plays (1966)
  • The Pleasures of Peace and Other Poems (1969)
  • When the Sun Tries to Go On (1969)
  • Wishes, Lies and Dreams: Teaching Children To Write Poetry (1970)
  • The Art of Love (1975)
  • The Duplications (1977)
  • The Burning Mystery of Anna in 1951 (1979)
  • On the Edge (1986)
  • Seasons on Earth (1987)
  • 1000 Avant-Garde Plays (1988)
  • One Train (1994)
  • I Never Told Anybody: Teaching Poetry Writing to Old People (1997)
  • Straits (1998)
  • New Addresses (2000)
  • A Possible World (2002)

References

  1. ↑ "About Kenneth Koch | Academy of American Poets". poets.org. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lehman, David (2013). "Koch, Kenneth". Oxford Reference - The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Feuer, Alan (July 7, 2002). "Kenneth Koch, 77, Poet of New York School". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  4. ↑ "National Book Awards 2000". National Book Foundation. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  5. ↑ "Kenneth Koch | The Bollingen Prize for Poetry". bollingen.yale.edu. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Bobbitt Prize | Prizes | Poetry & Literature | Programs | Library of Congress". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved January 23, 2023.

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