Ned Balbo
Encyclopedia
Ned Balbo is an award-winning poet
and essayist. He currently lives in Baltimore
, Maryland
with his wife, poet-essayist Jane Satterfield, and her daughter Catherine.
Balbo graduated from Brentwood High School
in 1977. He earned his Bachelor of Arts
at Vassar College
in 1981, his Master of Arts
at Johns Hopkins University
in 1986, and his Master of Fine Arts
at the University of Iowa
in 1989. Since 1990, he has taught poetry and prose at Loyola University Maryland.
Balbo's earliest poems were influenced by rock music
and Catholic prayers. He became interested in form and meter
at an early age, having written songs and poems as a child and adolescent. He has written in a wide variety of forms
, including blank verse
, sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, and nonce forms, as well as free verse
.
at the Sewanee Writers Conference and several times a fellow
in poetry at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
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. He currently lives in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
with his wife, poet-essayist Jane Satterfield, and her daughter Catherine.
Life
Ned Balbo was born on November 19, 1959. He grew up in Long Island, New York. He was raised in a blue-collar setting by his birth mother's half-sister and her husband who he believed were his parents. Years later, when his aunt and uncle sought a legal adoption, his birth parents refused consent. Balbo learned of this arrangement when he was thirteen.Balbo graduated from Brentwood High School
Brentwood High School (Brentwood, New York)
Brentwood High School is a secondary school in Brentwood, New York. It is one of the largest high schools in New York State, on the southern shore of Suffolk County, Long Island. Richard Loeschner is the current principal.-1951-1980:...
in 1977. He earned his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
at Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
in 1981, his Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
at 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...
in 1986, and his Master of Fine Arts
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
at the University of Iowa
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...
in 1989. Since 1990, he has taught poetry and prose at Loyola University Maryland.
Poetry and style
According to Lisa Vihos in Verse Wisconsin, "Balbo employs traditional forms but takes liberty with them to good effect." In addition, he "gives shape and heft to the formless, fleeting past--both historical and personal--through his rich language." In reviewing The Trials of Edgar Poe and Other Poems for JMWW, Patricia Valdata observes that Balbo's work "raises difficult questions about home, about the relationship of parent to child, about a society's responsibility to its poor."Balbo's earliest poems were influenced by rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and Catholic prayers. He became interested in form and meter
Meter (poetry)
In poetry, metre is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study of metres and forms of versification is known as prosody...
at an early age, having written songs and poems as a child and adolescent. He has written in a wide variety of forms
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:...
, including blank verse
Blank verse
Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. It has been described as "probably the most common and influential form that English poetry has taken since the sixteenth century" and Paul Fussell has claimed that "about three-quarters of all English poetry is in blank verse."The first...
, sonnets, villanelles, sestinas, and nonce forms, as well as free verse
Free verse
Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.Poets have explained that free verse, despite its freedom, is not free. Free Verse displays some elements of form...
.
Awards
In addition to the various awards given for his books, Balbo's distinctions include three Maryland Arts Council grants, the Robert Frost Foundation Poetry Award, and the John Guyon Literary Nonfiction Prize. The latter was awarded for the essay "Walt Whitman's Finches: on discretion and disclosure in autobiography and adoption," published in the literary journal Crab Orchard Review in 2002. "My Father's Music," an essay on adoption, ethnicity, and popular culture, and a finalist for the William Faulkner Society's Gold Medal in the Essay, appears in Our Roots Are Deep with Passion: Creative Nonfiction Collects New Essays by Italian American Writers (Other Press, 2006). He has also been a Walter E. Dakin fellowFellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
at the Sewanee Writers Conference and several times a fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
in poetry at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
External links
- "Fire Victim" by Ned Balbo - American Life in Poetry, selected by Ted KooserTed KooserTed Kooser is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004 to 2006.-Early Life:...
, U.S. Poet Laureate. - "Four Poems" by Ned Balbo - Studio Journal.
- "Desire: A Bestiary" by Ned Balbo - Verse Daily.
- "Chesterfield" by Ned Balbo - The Writer's Almanac, selected by Garrison KeillorGarrison KeillorGary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
. - "Lives of the Sleepers" by Ned Balbo - Image Update book review.
- "Aristaeus Forgiven" by Ned Balbo - Frost Notes, Robert FrostRobert FrostRobert 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...
Foundation.