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| awards      = [[Pulitzer Prize for Poetry]] <small>(1957, 1989)</small><br>[[Robert Frost Medal]] <small>(1996)</small>
| awards      = [[Pulitzer Prize for Poetry]] <small>(1957, 1989)</small><br>[[Robert Frost Medal]] <small>(1996)</small>
}}
}}
'''Richard Purdy Wilbur''' (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets, along with his friend [[Anthony Hecht]], of the [[Greatest Generation|World War II generation]], Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was acclaimed in his youth as the heir to [[Robert Frost]], translated the [[verse drama]]s of [[Moliere]], [[Corneille]], and [[Jean Racine|Racine]] into rhymed English,<ref> King, Brendan D., ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', [[St Austin Review]], March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pages 15-19.</ref> collaborated with [[Leonard Bernstein]] as the [[lyricist]] for the opera ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]'',<ref name="MTI">[http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000016 Music Theatre International. ''Candide (1973)'']</ref> and in his old age acted, particularly through his role in the annual [[West Chester University Poetry Conference]], as a mentor to the younger poets of the [[New Formalism|New Formalist movement]].<ref> King, Brendan D., ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', [[St Austin Review]], March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pages 15-19.</ref> He was appointed the second [[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress]] in 1987 and received the [[Pulitzer Prize for Poetry]] twice, in 1957 and 1989.<ref>{{cite web | title=Poet Laureate Timeline: 1981–1990 | url= https://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1981-1990.html | publisher = [[Library of Congress]] | year = 2008 | access-date = January 1, 2009}}</ref>
'''Richard Purdy Wilbur''' (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets, along with his friend [[Anthony Hecht]], of the [[Greatest Generation|World War II generation]], Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was acclaimed in his youth as the heir to [[Robert Frost]], translated the [[verse drama]]s of [[Moliere]], [[Corneille]], and [[Jean Racine|Racine]] into rhymed English,<ref> King, Brendan D., ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', [[St Austin Review]], March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 15–19.</ref> collaborated with [[Leonard Bernstein]] as the [[lyricist]] for the opera ''[[Candide (operetta)|Candide]]'',<ref name="MTI">[http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000016 Music Theatre International. ''Candide (1973)'']</ref> and in his old age acted, particularly through his role in the annual [[West Chester University Poetry Conference]], as a mentor to the younger poets of the [[New Formalism|New Formalist movement]].<ref> King, Brendan D., ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', [[St Austin Review]], March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', po. 15–19.</ref> He was appointed the second [[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress]] in 1987 and received the [[Pulitzer Prize for Poetry]] twice, in 1957 and 1989.<ref>{{cite web | title=Poet Laureate Timeline: 1981–1990 | url= https://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate-1981-1990.html | publisher = [[Library of Congress]] | year = 2008 | access-date = January 1, 2009}}</ref>


==Early years==
==Early years==
Wilbur was born in [[New York City]] on March 1, 1921, and grew up in [[North Caldwell, New Jersey]].<ref name=nytobit/> In 1938 he graduated from [[Montclair High School (New Jersey)|Montclair High School]], where he worked on the school newspaper.<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/biography/richard-purdy-wilbur-dlb/ Richard (Purdy) Wilbur], from the ''[[Dictionary of Literary Biography]]''. Accessed January 1, 2012. "Wilbur showed an early interest in writing, which he has attributed to his mother's family because her father was an editor of the Baltimore Sun and her grandfather was an editor and a publisher of small papers aligned with the Democratic party. At Montclair High School, from which he graduated in 1938, Wilbur wrote editorials for the school newspaper."</ref> At [[Amherst College]], he also displayed his "ample literary gifts" as one of the "sharpest" reporters for the college newspaper, edited by upperclassman [[Robert Morgenthau]].<ref name="Meier">{{cite book |last1=Meier |first1=Andrew |title=Morgenthau |date=October 2022 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781400068852 |pages=276, 299 |edition=First}}</ref> After graduation in 1942, he served in the [[United States Army]] from 1943 to 1945 during [[World War II]]. He attended graduate school at [[Harvard University]]. Wilbur taught at [[Wellesley College]], then [[Wesleyan University]] for two decades and at [[Smith College]] for another decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the [[Wesleyan University Press]].<ref>{{citation | publisher =[[University of Illinois]] | url =http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm | title =Wilbur biography | access-date =May 9, 2009 | archive-date =July 20, 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190720100402/http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm | url-status =dead }}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{citation |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | access-date = July 18, 2011 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E2D6143FF935A25753C1A9639C8B63&sel=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=The University of Verse | first = Jane | last = Gordon | date = October 16, 2005}}</ref> He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and taught at Amherst College as late as 2009,<ref>{{citation | chapter-url = https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/rpwilbur42 | publisher =[[Amherst College]] | chapter = Wilbur | title = Faculty staff}}.</ref> where he also served on the editorial board of the literary magazine ''[[The Common (magazine)|The Common]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommononline.org/about|title=About The Common – The Common|website=www.thecommononline.org|date=July 15, 2016}}</ref><ref name="NYT"/><ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/15/obituaries/richard-wilbur-poet-laureate-and-pulitzer-winner-dies-at-96.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=October 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Mark | last = Ferney | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96 |newspaper=[[Boston Globe]]|date=October 15, 2017 |access-date= October 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/richard-wilbur-in-the-new-yorker |title=Richard Wilbur in the New Yorker |date=October 16, 2017 |first1=Hannah |last1=Aizenman |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-richard-wilbur-20171016-story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Who Twice Won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Dies at 96|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=September 28, 2019|quote=The U.S. poet laureate in 1987-88, Wilbur was often cited as an heir to Robert Frost and other New England writers and was the rare versifier to enjoy a following beyond the poetry community. He was regarded — not always favorably — as a leading “formalist,” a master of old-fashioned meter and language who resisted contemporary trends. Wilbur was also known for his translations, especially of Moliere, Racine and other French playwrights.}}</ref>
Wilbur was born in [[New York City]] on March 1, 1921, and grew up in [[North Caldwell, New Jersey]].<ref name=nytobit/> In 1938 he graduated from [[Montclair High School (New Jersey)|Montclair High School]], where he worked on the school newspaper.<ref>[http://www.bookrags.com/biography/richard-purdy-wilbur-dlb/ Richard (Purdy) Wilbur], from the ''[[Dictionary of Literary Biography]]''. Accessed January 1, 2012. "Wilbur showed an early interest in writing, which he has attributed to his mother's family because her father was an editor of the Baltimore Sun and her grandfather was an editor and a publisher of small papers aligned with the Democratic party. At Montclair High School, from which he graduated in 1938, Wilbur wrote editorials for the school newspaper."</ref> At [[Amherst College]], he also displayed his "ample literary gifts" as one of the "sharpest" reporters for the college newspaper, edited by upperclassman [[Robert Morgenthau]].<ref name="Meier">{{cite book |last1=Meier |first1=Andrew |title=Morgenthau |year= 2022 |publisher=Random House |isbn=9781400068852 |pages=276, 299 |edition=First}}</ref> After graduation in 1942, he served in the [[United States Army]] from 1943 to 1945 during [[World War II]]. He attended graduate school at [[Harvard University]]. Wilbur taught at [[Wellesley College]], then [[Wesleyan University]] for two decades and at [[Smith College]] for another decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the [[Wesleyan University Press]].<ref>{{citation | publisher =[[University of Illinois]] | url =http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm | title =Wilbur biography | access-date =May 9, 2009 | archive-date =July 20, 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190720100402/http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/poets/s_z/wilbur/bio.htm | url-status =dead }}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{citation |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] | access-date = July 18, 2011 | url = https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E05E2D6143FF935A25753C1A9639C8B63&sel=&spon=&pagewanted=all |title=The University of Verse | first = Jane | last = Gordon | date = October 16, 2005}}</ref> He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and taught at Amherst College as late as 2009,<ref>{{citation | chapter-url = https://www.amherst.edu/people/facstaff/rpwilbur42 | publisher =[[Amherst College]] | chapter = Wilbur | title = Faculty staff}}.</ref> where he also served on the editorial board of the literary magazine ''[[The Common (magazine)|The Common]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thecommononline.org/about|title=About The Common – The Common|website=www.thecommononline.org|date=July 15, 2016}}</ref><ref name="NYT"/><ref name="nytobit">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/15/obituaries/richard-wilbur-poet-laureate-and-pulitzer-winner-dies-at-96.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=October 16, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | first=Mark | last = Ferney | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96 |newspaper=[[Boston Globe]]|date=October 15, 2017 |access-date= October 15, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/richard-wilbur-in-the-new-yorker |title=Richard Wilbur in the New Yorker |date=October 16, 2017 |first1=Hannah |last1=Aizenman |magazine=[[The New Yorker]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-richard-wilbur-20171016-story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Who Twice Won Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Dies at 96|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=October 16, 2017 |access-date=September 28, 2019|quote=The U.S. poet laureate in 1987–88, Wilbur was often cited as an heir to Robert Frost and other New England writers and was the rare versifier to enjoy a following beyond the poetry community. He was regarded – not always favorably – as a leading “formalist,” a master of old-fashioned meter and language who resisted contemporary trends. Wilbur was also known for his translations, especially of Moliere, Racine and other French playwrights.}}</ref>


==Literary career==
==Literary career==
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[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1957 "National Book Awards – 1957"]. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
[https://www.nationalbook.org/awards-prizes/national-book-awards-1957 "National Book Awards – 1957"]. [[National Book Foundation]]. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
<br/>(With acceptance speech by Wilbur and essay by Patrick Rosal from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)</ref><!-- essay note does specify ''Things of This World'' for both Awards -->
<br/>(With acceptance speech by Wilbur and essay by Patrick Rosal from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)</ref><!-- essay note does specify ''Things of This World'' for both Awards -->
the [[Edna St Vincent Millay]] award, the [[Bollingen Prize]], and the Chevalier, {{lang|fr|[[Ordre des Palmes Académiques]]}}. He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1959.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter W| url= http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterW.pdf | publisher =[[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] | access-date = April 7, 2011}}</ref> In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, after [[Robert Penn Warren]], to be named [[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress|U.S. Poet Laureate]] after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1988 he won the [[Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry]] and in 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, for his ''New and Collected Poems.'' On October 14, 1994, he received the [[National Medal of Arts]] from President [[Bill Clinton]]. He also received the [[PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation]] in 1994. In 2003 Wilbur was inducted into the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82135-2004-Inductees-of-Theatre-Hall-of-Fame-Announced|title=2004 Inductees of Theatre Hall of Fame Announced|publisher=www.playbill.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331082301/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82135-2004-Inductees-of-Theatre-Hall-of-Fame-Announced|archive-date=March 31, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2006 he won the [[Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize]]. In 2010 he won the [[National Translation Award]] for the translation of ''The Theatre of Illusion'' by [[Pierre Corneille]]. In 2012 [[Yale University]] conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on Wilbur. He had a literary correspondence with Catholic nun, literary critic and poet [[M. Bernetta Quinn]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Ripatrazone |first=Nick |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2xkjp9p |title=The Habit of Poetry: The Literary Lives of Nuns in Mid-century America |date=2023 |publisher=1517 Media |isbn=978-1-5064-7112-9 |chapter=Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn: Woman of Letters |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2xkjp9p.7|jstor=j.ctv2xkjp9p }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Mary Bernetta Quinn Papers, 1937-1998 |url=https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/04307/ |access-date= |website=Wilson Special Collections Library of UNC-Chapel Hill}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn papers |url=https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/1438 |url-status= |access-date= |website=Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University}}</ref>
the [[Edna St Vincent Millay]] award, the [[Bollingen Prize]], and the Chevalier, {{lang|fr|[[Ordre des Palmes Académiques]]}}. He was elected a Fellow of the [[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] in 1959.<ref name=AAAS>{{cite web|title=Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter W| url= http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterW.pdf | publisher =[[American Academy of Arts and Sciences]] | access-date = April 7, 2011}}</ref> In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, after [[Robert Penn Warren]], to be named [[Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress|U.S. Poet Laureate]] after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1988 he won the [[Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry]] and in 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, for his ''New and Collected Poems.'' On October 14, 1994, he received the [[National Medal of Arts]] from President [[Bill Clinton]]. He also received the [[PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation]] in 1994. In 2003 Wilbur was inducted into the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82135-2004-Inductees-of-Theatre-Hall-of-Fame-Announced|title=2004 Inductees of Theatre Hall of Fame Announced|publisher=www.playbill.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331082301/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/82135-2004-Inductees-of-Theatre-Hall-of-Fame-Announced|archive-date=March 31, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2006 he won the [[Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize]]. In 2010 he won the [[National Translation Award]] for the translation of ''The Theatre of Illusion'' by [[Pierre Corneille]]. In 2012 [[Yale University]] conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on Wilbur. He had a literary correspondence with Catholic nun, literary critic and poet [[M. Bernetta Quinn]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last=Ripatrazone |first=Nick |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2xkjp9p |title=The Habit of Poetry: The Literary Lives of Nuns in Mid-century America |date=2023 |publisher=1517 Media |isbn=978-1-5064-7112-9 |chapter=Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn: Woman of Letters |doi=10.2307/j.ctv2xkjp9p.7|jstor=j.ctv2xkjp9p }}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Mary Bernetta Quinn Papers, 1937–1998 |url=https://finding-aids.lib.unc.edu/04307/ |access-date= |website=Wilson Special Collections Library of UNC-Chapel Hill}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Sister Mary Bernetta Quinn papers |url=https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/11/resources/1438 |url-status= |access-date= |website=Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University}}</ref>


Wilbur died on October 14, 2017, at a nursing home in [[Belmont, Massachusetts]], from natural causes aged 96.<ref name="nytobit"/><ref>{{cite news | first=Mark | last = Ferney | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96 |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|date= October 15, 2017 |access-date= October 15, 2017}}</ref>
Wilbur died on October 14, 2017, at a nursing home in [[Belmont, Massachusetts]], from natural causes aged 96.<ref name="nytobit"/><ref>{{cite news | first=Mark | last = Ferney | url = https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/10/15/wilbur/n2ZJZF17OJGN1nHQOjUBWP/story.html |title=Richard Wilbur, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 96 |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|date= October 15, 2017 |access-date= October 15, 2017}}</ref>
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==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |title=Let Us Watch Richard Wilbur: A Biographical Study |first1=Robert |last1=Bagg |first2=Mary |last2=Bagg |year=2017 |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |location=Amherst |isbn=978-1625342249 }}
* {{Cite book |title=Let Us Watch Richard Wilbur: A Biographical Study |first1=Robert |last1=Bagg |first2=Mary |last2=Bagg |year=2017 |publisher=[[University of Massachusetts Press]] |location=Amherst |isbn=978-1625342249 }}
* King, Brendan D., ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', [[St Austin Review]], March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pages 15-19.
* King, Brendan D., ''The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry'', [[St Austin Review]], March/April 2020, ''American Literature in the Twentieth Century'', pp. 15–19.
*''Richard Wilbur and the Things of This World'', a documentary film by Ralph Hammann, 2017, Film Odysseys, Ltd. To be released.
*''Richard Wilbur and the Things of This World'', a documentary film by Ralph Hammann, 2017, Film Odysseys, Ltd. To be released.


Revision as of 19:50, 12 June 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "For". Template:Use mdy dates Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets, along with his friend Anthony Hecht, of the World War II generation, Wilbur's work, often employing rhyme, and composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance. He was acclaimed in his youth as the heir to Robert Frost, translated the verse dramas of Moliere, Corneille, and Racine into rhymed English,[1] collaborated with Leonard Bernstein as the lyricist for the opera Candide,[2] and in his old age acted, particularly through his role in the annual West Chester University Poetry Conference, as a mentor to the younger poets of the New Formalist movement.[3] He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987 and received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry twice, in 1957 and 1989.[4]

Early years

Wilbur was born in New York City on March 1, 1921, and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey.[5] In 1938 he graduated from Montclair High School, where he worked on the school newspaper.[6] At Amherst College, he also displayed his "ample literary gifts" as one of the "sharpest" reporters for the college newspaper, edited by upperclassman Robert Morgenthau.[7] After graduation in 1942, he served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. He attended graduate school at Harvard University. Wilbur taught at Wellesley College, then Wesleyan University for two decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the Wesleyan University Press.[8][9] He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and taught at Amherst College as late as 2009,[10] where he also served on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common.[11][9][5][12][13][14]

Literary career

When only eight years old, Wilbur published his first poem in John Martin's Magazine.[15] His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947. Thereafter he published several volumes of poetry, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur was also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies of Molière and dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the play's standard English version and has been presented on television twice (a 1978 production is available on DVD). Wilbur also published several children's books, including Opposites, More Opposites, and The Disappearing Alphabet. In 1959 he became the general editor of The Laurel Poetry Series (Dell Publishing).

Continuing the tradition of Robert Frost and W. H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into writing theatre lyrics. He provided lyrics to several songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical Candide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow". He also produced several unpublished works, including "The Wing" and "To Beatrice".

His honors included the 1983 Drama Desk Special Award and the PEN Translation Prize for his translation of The Misanthrope, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award for Things of This World (1956),[16] the Edna St Vincent Millay award, the Bollingen Prize, and the Chevalier, Script error: No such module "Lang".. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1959.[17] In 1987 Wilbur became the second poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant. In 1988 he won the Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry and in 1989 he won a second Pulitzer, for his New and Collected Poems. On October 14, 1994, he received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton. He also received the PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation in 1994. In 2003 Wilbur was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame.[18] In 2006 he won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. In 2010 he won the National Translation Award for the translation of The Theatre of Illusion by Pierre Corneille. In 2012 Yale University conferred an honorary Doctor of Letters on Wilbur. He had a literary correspondence with Catholic nun, literary critic and poet M. Bernetta Quinn.[19][20][21]

Wilbur died on October 14, 2017, at a nursing home in Belmont, Massachusetts, from natural causes aged 96.[5][22]

Awards and honors

During his lifetime, Wilbur received numerous awards in recognition of his work, including:

Bibliography

Poetry collections

Editor

Selected poems available online

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

Prose collections

  • 1976: Responses: Prose Pieces, 1953–1976[43]
  • 1997: The Catbird's Song: Prose Pieces, 1963–1995[43]

Translated plays from other authors

Translated from Molière

From Jean Racine

From Pierre Corneille

References

Citations

Template:Reflist

Sources

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..

Further reading

  • Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  • King, Brendan D., The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, St Austin Review, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Twentieth Century, pp. 15–19.
  • Richard Wilbur and the Things of This World, a documentary film by Ralph Hammann, 2017, Film Odysseys, Ltd. To be released.

External links

Template:Sister project

Template:Navboxes Template:LOC Poets Laureate

Template:Authority control

  1. ↑ King, Brendan D., The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, St Austin Review, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Twentieth Century, pp. 15–19.
  2. ↑ Music Theatre International. Candide (1973)
  3. ↑ King, Brendan D., The Poet and the Counterrevolution: Richard Wilbur, the Free Verse Revolution, and the Revival of Rhymed Poetry, St Austin Review, March/April 2020, American Literature in the Twentieth Century, po. 15–19.
  4. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  5. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Richard (Purdy) Wilbur, from the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Accessed January 1, 2012. "Wilbur showed an early interest in writing, which he has attributed to his mother's family because her father was an editor of the Baltimore Sun and her grandfather was an editor and a publisher of small papers aligned with the Democratic party. At Montclair High School, from which he graduated in 1938, Wilbur wrote editorials for the school newspaper."
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Template:Cite magazine
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  16. ↑ "National Book Awards – 1957". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-02.
    (With acceptance speech by Wilbur and essay by Patrick Rosal from the Awards 60-year anniversary blog.)
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  38. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  39. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  40. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  50. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  51. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  52. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  53. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  54. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  55. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  56. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  57. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  58. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  59. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  60. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  61. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
  62. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1"..
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