Posts Tagged ‘poet’

Poet John Fairfax dead at 78

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

Poetry is everywhere. Folks are debating Elizabeth Alexander’s unauguration poem. The TS Elliot Prize was packed to the rafters. Sadly, the poetry ranks also lost one its number today - British poet John Fairfax has died at 78. The Guardian carries the story.

John Fairfax, who co-founded the creative writing community Arvon, is remembered for works such as Bone Harvest Done and Adrift on the Star-brow of Taliesin. He also worked with Ted Hughes and Arvon’s co-founder John Moat on a book called The Way to Write.

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Poet W.D. Snodgrass Dies

Wednesday, January 14th, 2009

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, William DeWitt (W.D.)  Snodgrass died Tuesday after a 4-month battle with inoperable lung cancer.  January 5 was his 83rd birthday.

In 1960, Snodgrass won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for his first book, Heart’s Needle. The poetry of Heart’s Needle expressed the angst he felt after losing custody of his daughter in a bitter divorce.

Prior to World War II, Snodgrass aspired to a career in music but after the war,  he hoped to become a playwright. Somehow from there he drifted into poetry where he found his niche.  Snodgrass was the author of more than 30 books of poetry and translations.

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