Barbara Howes
Encyclopedia
Barbara Howes was an American poet
.
, where she attended Beaver Country Day School. She graduated from Bennington College
in 1937. She worked briefly for the Southern Tenant Farmers Union
in Mississippi, and then edited the literary magazine, Chimera, from 1943 to 1947 and lived in Greenwich Village
. In 1947 she married the poet William Jay Smith
, and they lived for a time in England and Italy. They had two sons, David Smith, and Gregory. They divorced in the mid-1960s, and she lived in Pownal, Vermont
.
In 1971, she signed a letter protesting proposed cuts to the School of the Arts, Columbia University
.
Her work was published in, Atlantic, Chicago Review, New Directions, New Republic, New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Saturday Review, Southern Review, University of Kansas Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Yale Review.
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...
.
Life
She was adopted by well-to-do Massachusetts family, and reared chiefly in Chestnut HillChestnut Hill, Massachusetts
Chestnut Hill is a wealthy New England village located six miles west of downtown Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Like all Massachusetts villages, Chestnut Hill is not an incorporated municipal entity, but unlike most of them, it encompasses parts of three separate municipalities, each of...
, where she attended Beaver Country Day School. She graduated from Bennington College
Bennington College
Bennington College is a liberal arts college located in Bennington, Vermont, USA. The college was founded in 1932 as a women's college and became co-educational in 1969.-History:-Early years:...
in 1937. She worked briefly for the Southern Tenant Farmers Union
Southern Tenant Farmers Union
The Southern Tenant Farmers' Union was founded in 1934 as a civil farmer's union to further organize the tenant farmers in the Southern United States....
in Mississippi, and then edited the literary magazine, Chimera, from 1943 to 1947 and lived in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. In 1947 she married the poet William Jay Smith
William Jay Smith
William Jay Smith is an American poet. He was appointed the nineteenth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1968 to 1970.- Life :...
, and they lived for a time in England and Italy. They had two sons, David Smith, and Gregory. They divorced in the mid-1960s, and she lived in Pownal, Vermont
Pownal, Vermont
Pownal is a town in Bennington County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 3,560. The town of Pownal includes the villages of Pownal, North Pownal, and Pownal Center.-History:...
.
In 1971, she signed a letter protesting proposed cuts to the School of the Arts, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Her work was published in, Atlantic, Chicago Review, New Directions, New Republic, New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Saturday Review, Southern Review, University of Kansas Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, and Yale Review.
Awards
- Golden Rose AwardGolden Rose AwardThe Golden Rose Award, one of America’s oldest literary prizes, was inaugurated in 1919.The rose was modeled after the Gold Rose which is now in the Cluny Museum in Paris. The awards the Rose annually for American poetry.-List of winners:...
- nominated for the 1995 National Book Award for The Collected Poems of Barbara Howes, 1945-1990
Editor
- The Road Commissioner and Other Stories, illustrated by Gregory Smith, Stinehour Press, 1983.
Anthologies
- New Poems by American Poets, Ballantine (New York, NY), 1957
- Modern Verse in English, Macmillan, 1958
- Modern American Poetry, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1962
- Poet's Choice, Dial (New York, NY), 1962
- Modern Poets, McGraw (New York City), 1963
- Of Poetry and Power, Basic Books (New York City), 1964
- The Girl in the Black Raincoat, edited by George Garrett, Duell, Sloane & Pierce, 1966
- The Marvelous Light, edited by Helen Plotz, Crowell (New York, NY), 1970
- Inside Outer Space, edited by Robert Vas Dias, Anchor Books (New York, NY), 1970.
Reviews
Reading the Collected Poems, one sees Howes very clearly as a woman writing in one of the oddest but most important traditions of American poetry. Howes stands with Marianne MooreMarianne MooreMarianne Moore was an American Modernist poet and writer noted for her irony and wit.- Life :Moore was born in Kirkwood, Missouri, in the manse of the Presbyterian church where her maternal grandfather, John Riddle Warner, served as pastor. She was the daughter of mechanical engineer and inventor...
, Elizabeth BishopElizabeth BishopElizabeth Bishop was an American poet and short-story writer. She was the Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1956 and a National Book Award Winner for Poetry in 1970. Elizabeth Bishop House is an artists' retreat in Great Village, Nova Scotia...
, and ultimately Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
in a lineage of women writers passionately committed to the independence and singularity of the poetic imagination. (To this group one might also add Louise BoganLouise BoganLouise Bogan was an American poet. She was appointed the fourth Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress in 1945.-Early years:...
, Julia RandallJulia RandallJulia Randall was an American poet.She was one of a number of female poets writing in English whose work retained rhyme and meter long past the time when they were considered fashionable by the U.S. poetry scene of the twentieth century...
, May SwensonMay SwensonAnna Thilda May "May" Swenson was an American poet and playwright...
, and Josephine MilesJosephine MilesJosephine Miles was an American poet and literary critic; the first woman to be tenured in the English Department at the University of California, Berkeley. She wrote over a dozen books of poetry and several works of criticism....
). They form an eccentric but eminent sorority.