Richard Wilbur
| Richard Wilbur | |
|---|---|
| Born | Richard Purdy Wilbur March 1, 1921 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Alma mater |
Amherst College (1942) Harvard University (1947) |
| Genre | Poetry, Children's books |
| Literary movement | Formalism |
| Notable works | Things of This World |
| Notable awards |
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1957, 1989) Robert Frost Medal (1996) |
| Spouse | Mary Charlotte Hayes Ward 1922–2007 (her death) |
| Children | Ellen D. Wilbur 1943-, Christopher H. Wilbur 1948-, Nathan L. Wilbur 1951-, Aaron H. Wilbur 1958- |
Richard Purdy Wilbur (born March 1, 1921) is an American poet and literary translator. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1957 and again in 1989.
Wilbur was born in New York City March 1, 1921 and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey. He graduated from Montclair High School in 1938, having worked on the school newspaper as a student there. He graduated from Amherst College in 1942 and then served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. After the Army and graduate school at Harvard University, Wilbur taught at Wellesley College, then Wesleyan University for two decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan, he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the University Press. He received two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry and, as of 2009, teaches at Amherst College. He is also on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common, based at Amherst College.
When only 8 years old, Wilbur published his first poem in John Martin's Magazine. His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947. Since then he has published several volumes of poetry, including New and Collected Poems (Faber, 1989). Wilbur is also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies of Molière and the dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the standard English version of the play, and has been presented on television twice (a 1978 production is available on DVD.) In addition to publishing poetry and translations, he has also published several children's books including Opposites, More Opposites, and The Disappearing Alphabet.
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