Gary Miranda
Encyclopedia

Life

Miranda was raised in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

.He spent six years in a Jesuit seminary, then did graduate work at San Jose State College and the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...

. He has published poems in numerous magazines, including The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...

, The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry
Poetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...

, The American Poetry Review, and elsewhere.

His 1978 collection Listeners at the Breathing Place was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

. He has won nine awards from the Poetry Society of America
Poetry Society of America
The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...

, and in July 1979, Miranda was chosen by the editors of the Atlantic Monthly to be the third poet-in-residence at The Frost Place
The Frost Place
The Frost Place is a museum and nonprofit educational center for poetry located at Robert Frost's former home in Franconia, New Hampshire, USA....

, Robert Frost's
Robert Frost
Robert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...

 house in Franconia, New Hampshire, after Katha Pollitt
Katha Pollitt
Katha Pollitt is an American feminist poet, essayist and critic. She is the author of four essay collections and two books of poetry...

 and Robert Hass
Robert Hass
Robert L. Hass is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He was awarded the 2007 National Book Award and the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Time and Materials.-Life:...

.
From 1970 to 1973, he was a Fulbright Lecturer
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...

 at the University of Athens
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in Southeast Europe and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. Today, it is the second-largest institution of higher learning in Greece,...

 in Greece He has taught writing and literature at various colleges and universities, most recently as writer-in-residence at Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...

 in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

.

Reviews and Criticism

Miranda's poetry has been well-received. His first collection, Listeners at the Breathing Place, chosen for the Princeton Series of Contemporary Poets, was described as "inviting and impressive" in the Library Journal
Library Journal
Library Journal is a trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey . It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice...

  Maxine Kumin
Maxine Kumin
Maxine Kumin is an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1981-1982.-Early years:...

 called it "a first book to be proud of," and Miranda "a versatile and sensitive poet." Writing in Poetry, Michael Heffernan called the book "breathtaking."

The Library Journal review of Miranda's second collection, Grace Period, said it was "written with a sure hand," and that Miranda "bears witness" and "surprises us." In a review of Orpheus and Company: Contemporary Poems on Greek Mythology,edited by Deborah DeNicola, David Garza calls the opening to Miranda's poem on Narcissus "insightful and seductive."

Miranda's translation of Rilke's Duino Elegies
Duino Elegies
The Duino Elegies are a set of ten elegies written in German by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke from 1912 to 1922. They are frequently referred to as Rilke's most acclaimed poetic work.-Presentation:...

received wide praise. Robin Skelton
Robin Skelton
Robin Skelton was a British-born academic, writer, poet, and anthologist.Born in Easington, Yorkshire, Skelton was educated at the University of Leeds and Cambridge University. From 1944 to 1947, he served with the Royal Air Force in India. He later taught at Manchester University...

, in The Malahat Review
The Malahat Review
The Malahat Review is a Canadian quarterly literary magazine established in 1967. It features contemporary Canadian and international works of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction as well as reviews of recently published Canadian literature...

, said it "retains the brilliance of the original;" Robert Boyers, in Salmagundi
Salmagundi (magazine)
Salmagundi is a quarterly periodical of the Humanities and Social Sciences which aims to address the general reader. It was founded in 1965, and Skidmore College has produced it since 1969. The name refers to Salmagundi, a salad dish originating in early 17th century England.-External links:* *...

, said, "Nowhere does it read like a translation." Rilke Scholar John Mood called it "the nearest to a definitive Elegies we're apt ever to get in the English language." Jan Freeman, director of Paris Press, said, "No other translation compares to this one." Less effusive, the review in the Virginia Quarterly Review called the translation "admirable," "clear and readable," and "faithful" to Rilke's meaning, but found Miranda's translation "prosaic," and prefers the translation by Harry Behn
Harry Behn
Harry Behn, also known as Giles Behn, was an American screenwriter and children's author.-Early life:Harry Behn was born in 1898 in McCabe, Arizona, which is now a ghost town, in Yavapai County in what was then the Arizona Territory. He was the son of Henry K...

.

Miranda has not been identified strongly with a single school of poetry; although three of his poems were included in the New Formalist
New Formalism
New Formalism is a late-20th and early 21st century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical and rhymed verse.-Origins and intentions:...

 collection Strong Measures, he does not limit himself to traditional forms - in fact, most of his work is free verse.

Poetry Collections

  • Turning Sixty, Zoland Books, 2003
  • Grace Period, Princeton University Press
    Princeton University Press
    -Further reading:* "". Artforum International, 2005.-External links:* * * * *...

    , 1983.
  • Duino Elegies, by Rainer Maria Rilke
    Rainer Maria Rilke
    René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke , better known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was a Bohemian–Austrian poet. He is considered one of the most significant poets in the German language...

    , Azul, 1996.
  • Listeners at the Breathing Place, Princeton University Press, 1979.
  • The Seed That Dies: Twelve Elegies, Kedros Press (Athens, Greece), 1973.

Prose Books

  • Splendid Audacity: The Story of Pacific University
    Pacific University
    Pacific University is a private university located in Oregon, United States. The first campus began more than 160 years ago and is located about 38 km west of Portland in Forest Grove...

    , 2000.
  • Following A River: Portland's Congregation Neveh Shalom
    Neveh Shalom Synagogue (Portland, Oregon)
    Neveh Shalom is a synagogue affiliated with Conservative Judaism, located in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1961, and currently has a congregation of over 1000 households....

    , 1869-1989. Jewish Historical Society of Oregon, 1989.
  • Health Care Research in an HMO: Two Decades of Discovery. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988. (Editor-in-chief)
  • A Heaven in the Eye, by Clyde Rice, editor. Breitenbush Books, 1984. Winner, Western States Book Award, judged by Robert Penn Warren.
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