Jean Valentine
Encyclopedia
Jean Valentine is an American
poet
, and currently the New York
State Poet (2008–2010). Her poetry collection, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003, was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry
.
Her most recent book Break the Glass (Copper Canyon Press
, 2010) was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
. Her first book, Dream Barker, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition in 1965. She has published poems widely in literary journals and magazines, including The New Yorker, and Harper's Magazine, and The American Poetry Review. Valentine was one of five poets including Charles Wright
, Russell Edson
, James Tate
and Louise Gluck
, whose work Lee Upton considered critically in The Muse of Abandonment: Origin, Identity, Mastery in Five American Poets (Bucknell University Press, 1998). She has held residencies from Yaddo
, the MacDowell Colony
, Ucross
, and the Lannan foundation, among others.
She was born in Chicago
, USA, received bachelor of arts and a master of arts degrees at Radcliffe College
, and has lived most of her life in New York City
. She has taught with the Graduate Writing Program at New York University
, at Columbia University
, at the 92nd Street Y
in Manhattan
, and at Sarah Lawrence College
. She is a faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts
. She was married to the late American historian James Chace
from 1957–1968, and they have two daughters, Sarah and Rebecca.
Anthology publications
Anthologies edited
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, and currently the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
State Poet (2008–2010). Her poetry collection, Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003, was awarded the 2004 National Book Award for Poetry
National Book Award for Poetry
The National Book Award for Poetry has been given since 1950 and is part of the National Book Awards, which are given annually for outstanding literary works by American citizens...
.
Her most recent book Break the Glass (Copper Canyon Press
Copper Canyon Press
Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to...
, 2010) was a finalist for the 2011 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:...
. Her first book, Dream Barker, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition in 1965. She has published poems widely in literary journals and magazines, including The New Yorker, and Harper's Magazine, and The American Poetry Review. Valentine was one of five poets including Charles Wright
Charles Wright
Charles Wright may refer to:*Charles Wright , American botanist*Charles Frederick Wright , U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania*Charles Wright , Nottinghamshire and England cricketer*C. S...
, Russell Edson
Russell Edson
Russell Edson is an American poet, novelist, writer and illustrator, and the son of the cartoonist-screenwriter Gus Edson....
, James Tate
James Tate
James Tate may refer to:* James Tate , Headmaster of Richmond School 1796–1833)* James "Honest Dick" Tate , State Treasurer of Kentucky...
and Louise Gluck
Louise Glück
Louise Elisabeth Glück is an American poet of Hungarian Jewish heritage. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2003, after serving as a Special Bicentennial Consultant three years prior in 2000....
, whose work Lee Upton considered critically in The Muse of Abandonment: Origin, Identity, Mastery in Five American Poets (Bucknell University Press, 1998). She has held residencies from Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
, the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, Ucross
Ucross Foundation
The Ucross Foundation, located in Ucross, Wyoming, is a nonprofit organization that operates an internationally known retreat for visual artists, writers, composers and choreographers working in all creative disciplines.-History:...
, and the Lannan foundation, among others.
She was born in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, USA, received bachelor of arts and a master of arts degrees at Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
, and has lived most of her life in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She has taught with the Graduate Writing Program at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, at the 92nd Street Y
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, and at Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College
Sarah Lawrence College is a private liberal arts college in the United States, and a leader in progressive education since its founding in 1926. Located just 30 minutes north of Midtown Manhattan in southern Westchester County, New York, in the city of Yonkers, this coeducational college offers...
. She is a faculty member at the Vermont College of Fine Arts
Vermont College of Fine Arts
Vermont College of Fine Arts offers four distinct graduate programs, awarding Master of Fine Arts degrees in Visual Art, Writing, Writing for Children & Young Adults and Graphic Design. The student to faculty ratio at VCFA is 4-to-1.. The faculty and alumni of VCFA have won many literary awards,...
. She was married to the late American historian James Chace
James Chace
James Clarke Chace was an eminent historian, writing on American diplomacy and statecraft. His 12 books include the critically acclaimed Acheson: The Secretary of State Who Created the American World , the definitive biography of former Secretary of State Dean Acheson. In a debate during the...
from 1957–1968, and they have two daughters, Sarah and Rebecca.
Published works
Full-length poetry collections- Break the Glass (2010, Copper Canyon PressCopper Canyon PressCopper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, specializing in the publication of poetry and located in the picturesque town of Port Townsend, Washington. Since 1972, the Press has published poetry exclusively and has established an international reputation for its commitment to...
) - Little Boat (2007, Wesleyan University PressWesleyan University PressWesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The Press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist...
) - Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003 (2004, Wesleyan University Press)
- The Cradle of the Real Life (2000, Wesleyan University Press)
- Growing Darkness, Growing Light (1997, Carnegie Mellon University PressCarnegie Mellon University PressCarnegie Mellon University Press is a publisher that is part of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States.It is headquartered within the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences in Baker Hall and specializes in poetry. Gerald Costanzo is the founder and...
) - The Under Voice: Selected Poems (1995, Salmon Publishing)
- The River at Wolf (1992, Alice James BooksAlice James BooksAlice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.- History and mission :...
) - Home Deep Blue: New and Selected Poems (1989, Alice James BooksAlice James BooksAlice James Books is an American non-profit poetry press located in Farmington, Maine and affiliated with the University of Maine at Farmington.- History and mission :...
) - The Messenger (1979, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
- Ordinary Things (1974, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
- Pilgrims (1969, Farrar, Straus & Giroux)
- Dream Barker, and Other Poems (1965, Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
)
Anthology publications
- Leaving New York: Writers Look Back (Hungry Mind Press, 1995)
Anthologies edited
- The Lighthouse Keeper: Essays on the Poetry of Eleanor Ross Taylor (Hobart & William SmithHobart and William Smith CollegesHobart and William Smith Colleges, located in Geneva, New York, are together a liberal arts college offering Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts in Teaching degrees. In athletics, however, the two schools compete with separate teams, known as the Hobart Statesmen and the...
, 2001).
Awards and honors
- 2004 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 Poetry (for Door in the Mountain: New and Collected Poems, 1965–2003) - 1999 Shelley Memorial AwardShelley Memorial AwardThe Shelley Memorial Award of more than $3,500, given out by the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of the late Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need. The selection is...
- 1991 Maurice English Poetry Award
- 1988 Beatrice Hawley AwardBeatrice Hawley AwardThe Beatrice Hawley Award is given annually by Alice James Books. The award includes publication of a book-length poetry manuscript and a cash prize ....
(for Home Deep Blue: New and Selected Poems) - 1976 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...
- 1972 National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
- Literature Fellowship in Poetry - 1965 Yale Series of Younger Poets
Sources
- Library of Congress Online Catalog
- Author Website > Jean Valentine: Books/Bio
- Author Website > Jean Valentine C.V.
- The New York Times > A Poet in Yonkers > by Hershenson, Roberta > Nov. 28, 2004, section 14WC, p. 13
- Academy of American Poets > Jean Valentine
- Publishers Weekly Review of Door in the Mountain by Reed Business Information (Accessed via the Seattle Public Library and Syndetic Solutions, Inc.)
- Weiner, Tim. "James Chace, Foreign Policy Thinker, Is Dead at 72". The New York Times (Late East Coast edition), October 11, 2004, p. B.7. (Accessed via ProQuest, Document ID 710384891)
- Novel Guide
External links
- Jean Valentine website
- Video: Poetry Reading: Jean Valentine
- Poetry Society of America: Crossroads > A Conversation with Jean Valentine > by Eve Grubin
- Jean Valentine Papers Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University
- Audio: Jean Valentine Reading for WNYC Radio
- The American Poetry Review > Jan/Feb 2005 Vol. 34/No. 1 > Jean Valentine