Lynda Hull
Encyclopedia
Lynda Hull was a United States
poet
. She had published two collections of poetry when she died in a car accident in 1994. A third, The Only World (Harper Perennial, 1995), was published posthumously by her husband, the poet David Wojahn
, and was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award. Collected Poems By Lynda Hull (Graywolf Press
), was published in 2006.
Hull was the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council, and received four Pushcart Prizes. Her poems were published widely in literary journals and magazines including The New Yorker, AGNI, Colorado Review, The Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, Ploughshares, Poetry.
Hull was born and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. At the age of sixteen she won a scholarship to Princeton University
, but ran away from home. During the next ten years she struggled with addiction on and off and lived in many places including various Chinatown
s following a marriage to an immigrant from Shanghai
. In the early 1980s Hull started studying at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
and earned her B.A., and then her M.A. from Johns Hopkins University
. She also reconnected with her family during this time and met the poet David Wojahn
, whom she married in 1984.
She taught English at Indiana University
, De Paul University, and in the MFA in Writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts
. She served as a poetry editor for the literary journal Crazyhorse (magazine)
, which offers an annual award in her honor, the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize.
said of her study and work, "She steeped herself in the Romantics, especially Keats and Shelley, and she knew Hart Crane almost by heart. I’m still in awe of that acuity, and of how she used it to do honor to a broken world, post-apocalyptic, filled with ruins and ruined lives. And she gave such dignity to that landscape and those lives. She really did have an incredible lyric gift, one that no other poet of my generation possessed." Poet David St. John
wrote that “Of all the poets of my generation, Lynda Hull remains the most heartbreaking, merciful, and consoling.”
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...
. She had published two collections of poetry when she died in a car accident in 1994. A third, The Only World (Harper Perennial, 1995), was published posthumously by her husband, the poet David Wojahn
David Wojahn
David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...
, and was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award. Collected Poems By Lynda Hull (Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press
Graywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
), was published in 2006.
Hull was the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Illinois Arts Council, and received four Pushcart Prizes. Her poems were published widely in literary journals and magazines including The New Yorker, AGNI, Colorado Review, The Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, Ploughshares, Poetry.
Hull was born and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. At the age of sixteen she won a scholarship to 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....
, but ran away from home. During the next ten years she struggled with addiction on and off and lived in many places including various Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
s following a marriage to an immigrant from Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. In the early 1980s Hull started studying at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock
University of Arkansas at Little Rock , is a public research university located in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, and the second largest university by enrollment in the state of Arkansas....
and earned her B.A., and then her M.A. from Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
. She also reconnected with her family during this time and met the poet David Wojahn
David Wojahn
David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...
, whom she married in 1984.
She taught English at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
, De Paul University, and in the MFA in Writing program at 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 served as a poetry editor for the literary journal Crazyhorse (magazine)
Crazyhorse (magazine)
Crazyhorse is an American magazine that publishes fiction, poetry, and essays. It is published twice yearly by the Department of English and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina...
, which offers an annual award in her honor, the Lynda Hull Memorial Poetry Prize.
Literary Influences and Praise
In his review of her Collected Poems, Craig Morgan Teicher described Hull's poetry as, "lush, intensely lyrical evocations of the underbelly of American urban life, driven by a sense of inevitable loss and degradation but also by a powerful attachment to momentary beauty." In a 2008 interview with Gulf Coast, David WojahnDavid Wojahn
David Wojahn is a contemporary American poet who teaches poetry in the Department of English at Virginia Commonwealth University, and in the low residency MFA in Writing program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts...
said of her study and work, "She steeped herself in the Romantics, especially Keats and Shelley, and she knew Hart Crane almost by heart. I’m still in awe of that acuity, and of how she used it to do honor to a broken world, post-apocalyptic, filled with ruins and ruined lives. And she gave such dignity to that landscape and those lives. She really did have an incredible lyric gift, one that no other poet of my generation possessed." Poet David St. John
David St. John
-Biography:Born in Fresno, California, he was educated at California State University, Fresno, where he studied with poet Philip Levine, and at the University of Iowa, receiving an M.F.A. in 1974...
wrote that “Of all the poets of my generation, Lynda Hull remains the most heartbreaking, merciful, and consoling.”
Awards and honors
- 1991 Carl Sandburg Award for Star Ledger
- 1990 Edwin Ford Piper Award for Star Ledger
- 1989 NEA Literature Fellowship in Poetry
- 1986 Juniper Prize for Ghost Money
Books
- Collected Poems By Lynda Hull (Graywolf PressGraywolf PressGraywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
, 2006) - The Only World (Harper Perennial, 1995)
- Star Ledger (University of Iowa Press, 1991)
- Ghost Money (University of Massachusetts Press, 1986)
Anthologies
- Best American Poetry 1992,
- Last Call: Poems on Alchoholsim, Addiction and Deliverance (Sarabande Books, 1997)
- New American Poets of the 90's (David R. Godine, 1991)
- Under 35 the New Generation of American Poets, Nicholas Christopher, Editor; Anchor Press, c. 1989
Sources
External links
- Essay by Laurence Goldstein on Lynda Hull's work from Iowa Review
- Review of The Only World in Fall 1995 issue of Ploughshares
- Blackbird's "Lynda Hull Remembered" Essays and audio on Hull by David Wojahn, Elizabeth Alexander, Mark Doty, David Jauss, Brenda Shaughnessy, and Susan Aizenberg. Two previously unpublished poems and video of Hull reading "The Window."
- Graywolf Press > Author Page > Lynda Hull