Bill Zavatsky
Encyclopedia
Bill Zavatsky is an American poet, journalist, jazz pianist, and translator.
Zavatsky has worked as a journalist; his articles have appeared in The New York Times Book Review and Rolling Stone.
He was editor-in-chief of SUN press and SUN magazine.
He has taught workshops for Teachers & Writers Collaborative
, Long Island University, and University of Texas-Austin. For many years he taught English at Trinity School in New York City, where his students frequently won creative writing awards. His cotranslation of André Breton
's Earthlight received the International PEN
/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.
Zavatsky could be described as a second-generation New York School poet, influenced by such writers as Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch. Koch was his professor at Columbia University. In addition to the wry humor typical of the New York School, Zavatsky adds to his poetry an emotional poignancy that gives it additional depth. Like some of his predecessors in the New York School, Zavatsky also excels as a translator of poetry. His work in this area has included English versions of the writers André Breton, Valery Larbaud, Robert Desnos, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna.
His artistic influences include the jazz pianist Bill Evans, whom Zavatsky got to know late in the musician's career. Zavatsky has eloquently eulogized Evans, both in the liner notes to his albums, and in his poem "Live at the Village Vanguard."
Zavatsky grew up in a working-class family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His father was a mechanic who owned a garage. Zavatsky was the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year college. He attended Columbia University, where his fellow students included a dynamic cohort of budding writers, such as Phillip Lopate, Ron Padgett, and David Shapiro.
Zavatsky lives in New York City
.
Zavatsky has worked as a journalist; his articles have appeared in The New York Times Book Review and Rolling Stone.
He was editor-in-chief of SUN press and SUN magazine.
He has taught workshops for Teachers & Writers Collaborative
Teachers & Writers Collaborative
Teachers & Writers Collaborative is a New York City-based organization that sends writers and other artists into schools. It was founded in 1967 by a group of writers and educators including Herbert Kohl, June Jordan, Muriel Rukeyser, Grace Paley, and Anne Sexton, who believed that writers could...
, Long Island University, and University of Texas-Austin. For many years he taught English at Trinity School in New York City, where his students frequently won creative writing awards. His cotranslation of André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
's Earthlight received the International PEN
International PEN
PEN International , the worldwide association of writers, was founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere....
/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize.
Zavatsky could be described as a second-generation New York School poet, influenced by such writers as Frank O'Hara and Kenneth Koch. Koch was his professor at Columbia University. In addition to the wry humor typical of the New York School, Zavatsky adds to his poetry an emotional poignancy that gives it additional depth. Like some of his predecessors in the New York School, Zavatsky also excels as a translator of poetry. His work in this area has included English versions of the writers André Breton, Valery Larbaud, Robert Desnos, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna.
His artistic influences include the jazz pianist Bill Evans, whom Zavatsky got to know late in the musician's career. Zavatsky has eloquently eulogized Evans, both in the liner notes to his albums, and in his poem "Live at the Village Vanguard."
Zavatsky grew up in a working-class family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His father was a mechanic who owned a garage. Zavatsky was the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year college. He attended Columbia University, where his fellow students included a dynamic cohort of budding writers, such as Phillip Lopate, Ron Padgett, and David Shapiro.
Zavatsky lives in 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...
.
Works
- "Up in Grandma’s Room", Poetry Magazine
Poetry
- Theories of Rain and Other Poems, Sun, 1975, ISBN 9780915342037
- For Steve Royal and Other Poems, Coalition of Publishers for Employment, 1985
- Where X Marks the Spot Hanging Loose Press, 2006, ISBN 9781931236683
Translations
- The Poems of A.O. Barnabooth Valéry Larbaud, Translators Ron Padgett, Bill Zavatsky, Mushinsha, 1977
- Earthlight: Poems of André BretonAndré BretonAndré Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
Translator Bill Zavatsky, Zack Rogow, Sun & Moon Press, 1993, ISBN 9781557130952
External links
- "Interview with Bill Zavatsky", Big Bridge, Dave Brinks
- "Still Believe In The Rainbow", The Brooklyn Rail, John Yau
- "Where X Marks The Spot by Bill Zavatsky", Cold Front Magazine, Mike McDonough