C. K. Williams
Encyclopedia
Charles Kenneth Williams (b. November 4, 1936) is an American
poet. Senior poet Paul Muldoon
has described him as “one of the most distinguished poets of his generation.”
and graduated from Columbia High School
in Maplewood
. He later studied at Bucknell University
and the University of Pennsylvania
. During this time, he spent five lonely months in Paris trying to write before realizing he knew nothing about poetry, noting in a New York Times article, that "It was an incredibly important time, not much happened and yet my life began then. I discovered the limits of loneliness." He returned to Pennsylvania determined to learn something of poetry and began his writing career. He launched himself as a vehement anti-war poet at during the U. S. conflicts in southeast Asia. His first collection, Lies, was politically engaged; 1972 saw his first collection of explicitly antiwar poems.
He began teaching in 1975, first at a Y.M.C.A. in Philadelphia, later at Drexel
University, and then at the Franklin & Marshall College
.
He met his present wife, Catherine Mauger, a jeweller of French descent, in 1973, and they have a son who is now a noted painter. Williams also has a daughter, born in 1969, from an earlier marriage.
He is known for a poetic style involving long lines of unrhyming free verse
. His subjects are modern and predominately urban, his voice that of an 'outspoken liberal.' Anti-war themes pervade his entire writing career. He was highly critical of the Bush administration and the Iraq war, stating in 2005 that "The unreasonableness of war, the killing of children, drives me to distraction. My moral system grows out of this. There has never been a moment in my life when I felt we were in so much danger. I am a father and a grandfather. I have three grandsons. I am afraid for them." Williams is an acclaimed translator, notably of Sophocles
' Women of Trachis and Euripides
' The Bacchae
in the classic canon and more contemporarily, of the Polish poet Adam Zagajewski
and the French writer Francis Ponge
.
He has won nearly every major poetry award. Flesh and Blood won the National Book Critics Circle Award
. Repair (1999) won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
, was a National Book Award
finalist and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The Singing won the National Book Award
in 2003. In 2005, he was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
.
Since 1996, he has taught in the creative writing program at Princeton University
, and he divides his time between Princeton and France.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet. Senior poet Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon
Paul Muldoon is an Irish poet. He has published over thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. He held the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1999 - 2004. At Princeton University he is both the Howard G. B. Clark ’21 Professor in the Humanities and...
has described him as “one of the most distinguished poets of his generation.”
Biography
Williams grew up in Newark, New JerseyNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
and graduated from Columbia High School
Columbia High School (New Jersey)
Columbia High School is a four-year comprehensive regional public high school located at 17 Parker Avenue in Maplewood, New Jersey, which serves students in grades nine through twelve within the South Orange-Maplewood School District, which includes Maplewood and South Orange Townships...
in Maplewood
Maplewood, New Jersey
Maplewood is a township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 23,867.-History:...
. He later studied at Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
and the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
. During this time, he spent five lonely months in Paris trying to write before realizing he knew nothing about poetry, noting in a New York Times article, that "It was an incredibly important time, not much happened and yet my life began then. I discovered the limits of loneliness." He returned to Pennsylvania determined to learn something of poetry and began his writing career. He launched himself as a vehement anti-war poet at during the U. S. conflicts in southeast Asia. His first collection, Lies, was politically engaged; 1972 saw his first collection of explicitly antiwar poems.
He began teaching in 1975, first at a Y.M.C.A. in Philadelphia, later at Drexel
Drexel
-People:* Anthony Joseph Drexel I, a Philadelphia banker, founder of Drexel University* John Armstrong Drexel, aviation pioneer* Elizabeth Wharton Drexel, socialite and author* Francis Anthony Drexel, a Philadelphia banker...
University, and then at the Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College
Franklin & Marshall College is a four-year private co-educational residential national liberal arts college in the Northwest Corridor neighborhood of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States....
.
He met his present wife, Catherine Mauger, a jeweller of French descent, in 1973, and they have a son who is now a noted painter. Williams also has a daughter, born in 1969, from an earlier marriage.
He is known for a poetic style involving long lines of unrhyming free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
. His subjects are modern and predominately urban, his voice that of an 'outspoken liberal.' Anti-war themes pervade his entire writing career. He was highly critical of the Bush administration and the Iraq war, stating in 2005 that "The unreasonableness of war, the killing of children, drives me to distraction. My moral system grows out of this. There has never been a moment in my life when I felt we were in so much danger. I am a father and a grandfather. I have three grandsons. I am afraid for them." Williams is an acclaimed translator, notably of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Women of Trachis and Euripides
Euripides
Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
' The Bacchae
The Bacchae
The Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
in the classic canon and more contemporarily, of the Polish poet Adam Zagajewski
Adam Zagajewski
Adam Zagajewski is a Polish poet, novelist, translator and essayist.In 1982 he emigrated to Paris, but in 2002 he returned to Poland, and resides in Kraków. His poem "Try To Praise The Mutilated World", printed in The New Yorker, became famous after the 11 September attacks...
and the French writer Francis Ponge
Francis Ponge
Francis Jean Gaston Alfred Ponge was a French essayist and poet. In many ways, he combined the two — essay and poem — into a single art form.-Life:...
.
He has won nearly every major poetry award. Flesh and Blood won the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
. Repair (1999) won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
, was a National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
finalist and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The Singing won the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
in 2003. In 2005, he was awarded the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation; the Foundation also publishes Poetry. The Prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. The prize honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition"; its value is presently $100,000...
.
Since 1996, he has taught in the creative writing program at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and he divides his time between Princeton and France.
Awards and honors
- 1974 Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- 1987 National Book Critics Circle AwardNational Book Critics Circle AwardThe National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
for Flesh and Blood - 1992 Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Award
- Pushcart PrizePushcart PrizeThe Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are invited to nominate up to 6 works they have featured....
- 1998 PEN/Voelcker Award for PoetryPEN/Voelcker Award for PoetryThe PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry is given biennially to an American poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature.Awardees:...
- 1999 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award
- 2000 Pulitzer Prize for PoetryPulitzer Prize for PoetryThe Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
for Repair - 2000 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Repair
- 2003 National Book AwardNational Book AwardThe National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for The singing - 2003 American Academy of Arts and Letters Fellowship
- 2005 Ruth Lilly Poetry PrizeRuth Lilly Poetry PrizeThe Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation; the Foundation also publishes Poetry. The Prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. The prize honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition"; its value is presently $100,000...
Books
- Lies - 1969
- Tar - 1983
- Flesh and Blood - 1987
- The Bacchae of Euripides
- A Dream of Mind - 1992
- I am the Bitter Name - 1992
- Selected Poems - 1994
- With Ignorance - 1997
- The Vigil - 1997
- Poetry and Consciousness - 1998
- Repair - 1999
- Misgivings: My Mother, My Father, Myself - 2000
- The Singing - 2003
- Collected Poems - 2006
- On Whitman - 2010
- Wait, Farrar, Straus (New York, NY), 2010.
External links
- Poetry Foundation (U.S) biography accessed 2010-02-10
- Poetry Archive (U.K) biography and audio poetry recordings accessed 2010-02-10
- A Poet Watches Himself as He Watches the World New York Times article, December 25, 2006 accessed 2010-02-27
- Poet Marshals His Moral Passion Against the War New York Times article January 13, 2005 accessed 2010-02-27
- C.K. Williams reading his poetry at TED conference accessed 2010-02-27
- Poetry.LA's video of C.K. Williams' reading at the 3rd Area Reading Series, PHARMAKA Gallery, Los Angeles, 3/19/2009
- The National Book Foundation C.K. Williams's acceptance speech for the 2003 Poetry Award for The Singing, reading his poem "The Doves." Accessed 11/30/2010
- 'Song of Himself', review of On Whitman in the Oxonian Review