Marilyn Hacker
Encyclopedia
Marilyn Hacker is an American
poet
, translator and critic. She is Professor of English at the City College of New York
.
Her books of poetry include Going Back to the River (1990), Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons (1986), and Presentation Piece (1974), which won the National Book Award
. In 2009, Hacker won the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
for King of a Hundred Horsemen by Marie Étienne
, which also garnered the first Robert Fagles Translation Prize from the National Poetry Series
. In 2010, she received the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
.
, the only child of Jewish immigrant parents. Her father was a management consultant and her mother a teacher. Hacker attended the Bronx High School of Science
, where she met her future husband Samuel R. Delany
, who became a well-known science-fiction writer. She enrolled at New York University
at the age of fifteen (B.A.; 1964). To marry, Hacker and Delany traveled from New York to Detroit, Michigan
. Delany explained in his autobiography The Motion of Light in Water, "Because of different age-of-consent laws
for men and women, not to mention miscegenation
laws [Hacker is white and Delany is black], there were only two states in the union where we could legally wed. The closest one was Michigan." They settled in New York's East Village
. Their daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany, was born in 1974. Hacker and Delany, after being separated for many years, were divorced in 1980, but remain friends. Hacker identifies as lesbian
, and Delany has identified as a gay man since adolescence. During her marriage to Delany, both Hacker and Delany had other sexual relationships as well, with people of both sexes.
In the '60s and '70s, Hacker worked mostly in commercial editing. She returned to NYU, edited the university literary magazine, publishing poems by Charles Simic
and Grace Schulman
, and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in Romance languages.
Hacker's first publication was in Cornell University
's Epoch. After moving to London in 1970, she found an audience through the pages of The London Magazine and Ambit. She and her husband edited the magazine Quark: A Quarterly of Speculative Fiction (4 issues; 1970-71). She also performed in a series of U.S. State Department-sponsored readings at British universities with the influential rock band Eggs Over Easy
. Early recognition came for her when Richard Howard
, then editor of The New American Review, accepted three of Hacker's poems for publication.
In 1974, when she was thirty-one, Presentation Piece was published by The Viking Press. The book, a Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets, also received a National Book Award
. Winter Numbers, which details the loss of many of her friends to AIDS
and her own struggle with breast cancer
, garnered a Lambda Literary Award
and The Nation
's Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Her Selected Poems 1965-1990 received the 1996 Poets' Prize
. She received an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004. Among her eleven books of poems, the most recent is Desesperanto, published by W. W. Norton in 2003.
Hacker often employs strict poetic forms in her poetry: for example, in Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons, which is a verse novel
in sonnet
s. She is also recognized as a master of "French forms," particularly the villanelle
.
From 1990 to 1994 she was the editor of the Kenyon Review, the first full-time editor of the publication, where she was noted for "broadening the quarterly's scope to include more minority and marginalized viewpoints."
Hacker lives in New York and Paris with her partner of ten years, physician assistant Karyn London, and teaches at the City College of New York
and the CUNY Graduate Center
.
Hacker is mentioned in Heavenly Breakfast
, Delany's memoir of a New York City
commune during the so-called Summer of Love
in 1967, as well as in Delany's autobiography, The Motion of Light in Water
.
Hacker's daughter with Delany, Iva Hacker Delany, is a theatre director in New York City.
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...
, translator and critic. She is Professor of English at the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
.
Her books of poetry include Going Back to the River (1990), Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons (1986), and Presentation Piece (1974), which 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 2009, Hacker won the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
PEN Award for Poetry in Translation
The PEN Award for Poetry in Translation honors a poetry translation published in the preceding year.The award is separate from the similar PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.-Winners:-See also:*American poetry*List of poetry awards...
for King of a Hundred Horsemen by Marie Étienne
Marie Etienne
Marie Étienne is a French poet and novelist. In 2009, her book Roi des cent cavaliers and now translated into English as King of a Hundred Horseman won the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation...
, which also garnered the first Robert Fagles Translation Prize from the National Poetry Series
National Poetry Series
The National Poetry Series is an American literary awards program.Every year since 1979 it has sponsored the publication of five books of poetry...
. In 2010, she received the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry
The 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:...
.
Life and work
She was born and raised in Bronx, New YorkNew 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...
, the only child of Jewish immigrant parents. Her father was a management consultant and her mother a teacher. Hacker attended the Bronx High School of Science
Bronx High School of Science
The Bronx High School of Science is a specialized New York City public high school often considered the premier science magnet school in the United States. Founded in 1938, it is now located in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx...
, where she met her future husband Samuel R. Delany
Samuel R. Delany
Samuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
, who became a well-known science-fiction writer. She enrolled 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 the age of fifteen (B.A.; 1964). To marry, Hacker and Delany traveled from New York to Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Delany explained in his autobiography The Motion of Light in Water, "Because of different age-of-consent laws
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
for men and women, not to mention miscegenation
Miscegenation
Miscegenation is the mixing of different racial groups through marriage, cohabitation, sexual relations, and procreation....
laws [Hacker is white and Delany is black], there were only two states in the union where we could legally wed. The closest one was Michigan." They settled in New York's East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
. Their daughter, Iva Hacker-Delany, was born in 1974. Hacker and Delany, after being separated for many years, were divorced in 1980, but remain friends. Hacker identifies as lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
, and Delany has identified as a gay man since adolescence. During her marriage to Delany, both Hacker and Delany had other sexual relationships as well, with people of both sexes.
In the '60s and '70s, Hacker worked mostly in commercial editing. She returned to NYU, edited the university literary magazine, publishing poems by Charles Simic
Charles Simic
Dušan "Charles" Simić is a Serbian-American poet, and was co-Poetry Editor of the Paris Review. He was appointed the fifteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2007.-Early years:...
and Grace Schulman
Grace Schulman
-Life:She studied at Bard College, and graduated from American University in 1955, and from New York University with a Ph.D.She is Distinguished Professor of English at Baruch College, CUNY...
, and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in Romance languages.
Hacker's first publication was in Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
's Epoch. After moving to London in 1970, she found an audience through the pages of The London Magazine and Ambit. She and her husband edited the magazine Quark: A Quarterly of Speculative Fiction (4 issues; 1970-71). She also performed in a series of U.S. State Department-sponsored readings at British universities with the influential rock band Eggs Over Easy
Eggs over Easy
Eggs over Easy were an American country-rock band, of the early 1970s, who visited London to record an album, and then became a resident band in a London public house, launching what subsequently became known as pub rock.-Formation:...
. Early recognition came for her when Richard Howard
Richard Howard
Richard Howard is an American poet, literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio and is a graduate of Columbia University, where he studied under Mark Van Doren, and where he now teaches...
, then editor of The New American Review, accepted three of Hacker's poems for publication.
In 1974, when she was thirty-one, Presentation Piece was published by The Viking Press. The book, a Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets, also received 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...
. Winter Numbers, which details the loss of many of her friends to AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and her own struggle with breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
, garnered a Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
and The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
's Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Her Selected Poems 1965-1990 received the 1996 Poets' Prize
Poets' Prize
The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who also serve as judges...
. She received an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2004. Among her eleven books of poems, the most recent is Desesperanto, published by W. W. Norton in 2003.
Hacker often employs strict poetic forms in her poetry: for example, in Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons, which is a verse novel
Verse novel
A verse novel is a type of narrative poetry in which a novel-length narrative is told through the medium of poetry rather than prose. Either simple or complex stanzaic verse-forms may be used, but there will usually be a large cast, multiple voices, dialogue, narration, description, and action in a...
in sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
s. She is also recognized as a master of "French forms," particularly the villanelle
Villanelle
A villanelle is a poetic form that entered English-language poetry in the 19th century from the imitation of French models. The word derives from the Italian villanella from Latin villanus . A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds...
.
From 1990 to 1994 she was the editor of the Kenyon Review, the first full-time editor of the publication, where she was noted for "broadening the quarterly's scope to include more minority and marginalized viewpoints."
Hacker lives in New York and Paris with her partner of ten years, physician assistant Karyn London, and teaches at the City College of New York
City College of New York
The City College of the City University of New York is a senior college of the City University of New York , in New York City. It is also the oldest of the City University's twenty-three institutions of higher learning...
and the CUNY Graduate Center
CUNY Graduate Center
The Graduate Center of the City University of New York brings together graduate education, advanced research, and public programming to midtown Manhattan hosting 4,600 students, 33 doctoral programs, 7 master's programs, and 30 research centers and institutes...
.
Hacker is mentioned in Heavenly Breakfast
Heavenly Breakfast
Heavenly Breakfast is a 1979 autobigraphical novel by author, professor, and critic Samuel R. Delany. It details a few years of his life he spent living in a commune in New York City during the winter of 1968...
, Delany's memoir of a 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...
commune during the so-called Summer of Love
Summer of Love
The Summer of Love was a social phenomenon that occurred during the summer of 1967, when as many as 100,000 people converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco, creating a cultural and political rebellion...
in 1967, as well as in Delany's autobiography, The Motion of Light in Water
The Motion of Light in Water
The Motion of Light in Water: Sex and Science Fiction Writing in the East Village is an autobiography by science fiction author Samuel R. Delany in which he recounts his experiences as growing up a gay African American, as well as some of his time in an interracial and open marriage. It describes...
.
Hacker's daughter with Delany, Iva Hacker Delany, is a theatre director in New York City.
Poetry
- Presentation Piece (1974) ISBN 0-670-57399-X
- Separations (1976) ISBN 0-394-40070-4
- Taking Notice (1980) ISBN 0-394-51223-5
- Assumptions 1985 ISBN 0-394-72826-2
- Love, Death and the Changing of the Seasons (1986) ISBN 0-393-31225-9
- Going Back to the River (1990) ISBN 0-394-58271-3
- The Hang-Glider's Daughter: New and Selected Poems (1991) ISBN 0906500362
- Selected Poems (1994) ISBN 0393313492
- Winter Numbers: Poems (1995) ISBN 0-393-31373-5
- Squares and Courtyards (2000) ISBN 0-393-04830-6
- Desesperanto: Poems 1999-2002 (2003) ISBN 0-393-05418-7
- First Cities: Collected Early Poems 1960-1979: Presentation Piece, Separations, Taking Notice (2003) ISBN 0-393-32432-X
- Essays on Departure: New and Selected Poems 2006) ISBN 1-903039-78-9
Anthologies
- (edited with Samuel R. DelanySamuel R. DelanySamuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
) Quark/1Quark/1Quark/1 is a 1970 anthology of short stories and poetry edited by Samuel R. Delany and Marilyn Hacker. It is the first anthology in the Quark series. The stories and poems are original to this anthology.-Contents:...
(1970, science fiction) - (edited with Samuel R. DelanySamuel R. DelanySamuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
) Quark/2Quark/2Quark/2 is a 1971 anthology of short stories and poetry edited by Samuel R. Delany and Marilyn Hacker. It is the second volume in the Quark series. The stories and poems are original to this anthology.-Contents:...
(1971, science fiction) - (edited with Samuel R. DelanySamuel R. DelanySamuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
) Quark/3Quark/3Quark/3 is a 1971 anthology of short stories and poetry edited by Samuel R. Delany and Marilyn Hacker. It is the third volume in the Quark series. The stories and poems are original to this anthology.-Contents:* Continuous Landscape, by Donald Simpson...
(1971, science fiction) - (edited with Samuel R. DelanySamuel R. DelanySamuel Ray Delany, Jr., also known as "Chip" is an American author, professor and literary critic. His work includes a number of novels, many in the science fiction genre, as well as memoir, criticism, and essays on sexuality and society.His science fiction novels include Babel-17, The Einstein...
) Quark/4Quark/4Quark/4 is a 1971 anthology of short stories and poetry edited by Samuel R. Delany and Marilyn Hacker. It is the fourth and final volume in the Quark series. The stories and poems are original to this anthology with the exception of "Voortrekker" which had previously appeared in the magazine...
(1971, science fiction)
Literary criticism
- Hacker, Marilyn. Unauthorized Voices (Poets on Poetry Series, University of Michigan PressUniversity of Michigan PressThe University of Michigan Press is part of the University of Michigan Library and serves as a primary publishing unit of the University of Michigan, with special responsibility for the creation and promotion of scholarly, educational, and regional books and other materials in digital and print...
, 2010)
External links
- Marilyn Hacker at www.poets.org
- About Marilyn Hacker at PloughsharesPloughsharesPloughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
- Marilyn Hacker's 'Translator's Preface' to King of a Hundred Horseman