John Koethe
Encyclopedia
John Koethe is an American
poet
and essayist. Originally from San Diego, California
, he was educated at Princeton University
and Harvard University
, and is currently a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
As influences on his poetry, he identifies several people, including famed writers William Wordsworth
and Marcel Proust
.
Koethe has also contributed poetry and essays to publications including Poetry
, Paris Review
, Quarterly Review of Literature, Parnassus, and Art News.
His work has been included in anthologies of poetry, including The Best American Poetry (2003). Additionally, he was selected to contribute his views on contemporary poetry for the book Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms, which billed him as one of "85 leading contemporary poets."
Robert Hahn, writing for The Kenyon Review
, noted how Koethe's poetry paid homage to legendary literary influences, yet still retained a distinctively trenchant voice. Hahn praised Koethe as a poet of "striking and significant originality."
Andrew Yaphe, writing in the Chicago Review, hailed Koethe as being “widely recognized as one of our foremost Romantic poets, an inheritor of the tradition of Stevens and Ashbery.” And Prof. Bill Olsen of Western Michigan University
prefixed a January 2005 public reading by Koethe by stating: "Reading or hearing a John Koethe poem is like listening to yourself – like hearing parts of your own consciousness for the first time."
and the National Endowment for the Arts
and he has been nominated for the New Yorker Book Award, the Boston Book Review Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Boston Book Review Book Award. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin
, and the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers.
In February 2000, Koethe was named the first poet laureate for the city of Milwaukee, for which he received a $2,500 honorarium over two years. When asked in an interview what being the poet laureate required, Koethe replied: "I was the first one, and no one was quite sure what exactly I was supposed to do. The Friends of the Library oversaw the position, so together, we just sort of made it up. I read Dr. Seuss
to some kids, gave a poetry reading, read a poem to The Common Council. I also introduced four writers at Centennial Hall: two fiction writers, Martha Berglund and C.J. Hribal, and two poets Susan Firer and Lisa Samuels."
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 essayist. Originally from San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, he was educated 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 Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, and is currently a professor of philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
Inspiration and influences
Koethe has stated that the inspiration for many of his poems comes "in the shower, and while I'm shaving." He has said he loves living in Wisconsin, and that he finds the state beautiful. He has titled several of his poems after places in his hometown of Milwaukee, including "Hackett Avenue."As influences on his poetry, he identifies several people, including famed writers William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth was a major English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads....
and Marcel Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
.
Writing career
Koethe's published work includes Blue Vents (Audit/Poetry, 1969), Domes (Columbia University Press, 1973), The Late Wisconsin Spring (Princeton University Press, 1984), The Continuity of Wittgenstein's Thought (Cornell University Press, 1996), Falling Water (HarperPerennial, 1997), The Constructor, (HarperFlamingo, 1999), Poetry at One Remove (University of Michigan Press, 2000) and North Point North: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins, 2002). His most recent books include Scepticism, Knowledge, and Forms of Reasoning (Cornell University Press, 2005) and Sally's Hair (HarperCollins, 2006).Koethe has also contributed poetry and essays to publications including 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...
, Paris Review
Paris Review
The Paris Review is a literary quarterly founded in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen and George Plimpton. Plimpton edited the Review from its founding until his death in 2003. In its first five years, The Paris Review published works by Jack Kerouac, Philip Larkin, V. S...
, Quarterly Review of Literature, Parnassus, and Art News.
His work has been included in anthologies of poetry, including The Best American Poetry (2003). Additionally, he was selected to contribute his views on contemporary poetry for the book Ecstatic Occasions, Expedient Forms, which billed him as one of "85 leading contemporary poets."
Critical reception
Koethe's work has been well-received by critics and academicians. John Freeman, writing in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, praised Sally's Hair by noting: "We're wrapped around [Koethe's] finger." He cited passages that alternatively explored the poet's most intimate layers before "ricochet[ing] back out into airy ponderings."Robert Hahn, writing for The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review
The Kenyon Review is a Literary magazine based in Gambier, Ohio, USA, home of Kenyon College. The Review was founded in 1939 by John Crowe Ransom, critic and professor of English at Kenyon College, who served as its editor until 1959...
, noted how Koethe's poetry paid homage to legendary literary influences, yet still retained a distinctively trenchant voice. Hahn praised Koethe as a poet of "striking and significant originality."
Andrew Yaphe, writing in the Chicago Review, hailed Koethe as being “widely recognized as one of our foremost Romantic poets, an inheritor of the tradition of Stevens and Ashbery.” And Prof. Bill Olsen of Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
prefixed a January 2005 public reading by Koethe by stating: "Reading or hearing a John Koethe poem is like listening to yourself – like hearing parts of your own consciousness for the first time."
Honors and awards
Koethe's Domes won the Frank O'Hara Award for Poetry, and his Falling Water won the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award from Claremont Graduate University. He has been granted fellowships from the Guggenheim FoundationJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
and the National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Arts
The 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...
and he has been nominated for the New Yorker Book Award, the Boston Book Review Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Boston Book Review Book Award. He is a fellow of the American Academy in Berlin
American Academy in Berlin
The American Academy in Berlin is a research and cultural institution in Berlin whose stated mission is to foster a greater understanding and dialogue between the people of the United States and the people of Germany.The American Academy was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent...
, and the recipient of a lifetime achievement award from the Council for Wisconsin Writers.
In February 2000, Koethe was named the first poet laureate for the city of Milwaukee, for which he received a $2,500 honorarium over two years. When asked in an interview what being the poet laureate required, Koethe replied: "I was the first one, and no one was quite sure what exactly I was supposed to do. The Friends of the Library oversaw the position, so together, we just sort of made it up. I read Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
to some kids, gave a poetry reading, read a poem to The Common Council. I also introduced four writers at Centennial Hall: two fiction writers, Martha Berglund and C.J. Hribal, and two poets Susan Firer and Lisa Samuels."