Karl Shapiro
Encyclopedia
Karl Jay Shapiro was an American poet
. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
in 1946.
before World War II, and immortalized it in a scathing poem called "University," which noted that "to hate the Negro and avoid the Jew is the curriculum." He did not return after his military service.
Karl Shapiro wrote poetry in the Pacific Theater
while he served there during World War II
. His collection V-Letter and Other Poems, written while Shapiro was stationed in New Guinea
, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
in 1945
, while Shapiro was still in the military. Shapiro was American Poet Laureate in 1946 and 1947. (At the time this title was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress which was changed by Congress in 1985 to Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
.)
Poems from his earlier books display a mastery of formal verse with a modern sensibility that viewed such topics as automobiles, house flies, and drug stores as worthy of attention. Later work experimented with more open forms, beginning with The Bourgeois Poet (1964) and continuing with White-Haired Lover (1968). The influence of Walt Whitman
, D. H. Lawrence
, W. H. Auden
and William Carlos Williams
is evident in his work.
Shapiro's interest in formal verse and prosody led to his writing a long poem about the subjects, Essay on Rime (1945); A Bibliography of Modern Prosody (1948); and, with Robert Beum, A Prosody Handbook (1965; reissued 2006).
Selected Poems appeared in 1968, and Shapiro published one novel, Edsel (1971) and a three-part autobiography, "Poet" (1988–1990).
Shapiro edited the prestigious magazine, Poetry (see Poetry Magazine) for several years, and he was a professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he edited Prairie Schooner, and at the University of California, Davis
, from which he retired in the mid-1980s.
His other works include Person, Place and Thing (1942), (with Ernst Lert
) the libretto to Hugo Weisgall
's opera The Tenor (1950), To Abolish Children (1968), and The Old Horsefly (1993). Shapiro received the 1969 Bollingen Prize for Poetry, sharing the award that year with John Berryman
.
He died in New York City
, aged 86, on May 14, 2000.
More recent editions of his work include The Wild Card: Selected Poems Early and Late (1998) and Selected Poems (2003).
Shapiro's last work, Coda: Last Poems, (2008) was recently published in a collected volume post-mortem by editor Robert Phillips. The poems, divided into three sections according to love poems to his last wife, poems concerning roses, and other various poems, were discovered in the drawers of Shapiro's desk by his wife two years after his death.
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...
. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the nation's official poet. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of...
in 1946.
Biography
Karl Shapiro attended the University of VirginiaUniversity of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
before World War II, and immortalized it in a scathing poem called "University," which noted that "to hate the Negro and avoid the Jew is the curriculum." He did not return after his military service.
Karl Shapiro wrote poetry in the Pacific Theater
Pacific Ocean theater of World War II
The Pacific Ocean theatre was one of four major naval theatres of war of World War II, which pitted the forces of Japan against those of the United States, the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands and France....
while he served there during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His collection V-Letter and Other Poems, written while Shapiro was stationed in New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
The Pulitzer Prize in Poetry has been presented since 1922 for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author. However, special citations for poetry were presented in 1918 and 1919.-Winners:...
in 1945
1945 in literature
The year 1945 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*November 1 - The magazine Ebony is published for the first time.*Noel Coward's short play, Still Life, is adapted to become the film, Brief Encounter....
, while Shapiro was still in the military. Shapiro was American Poet Laureate in 1946 and 1947. (At the time this title was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress which was changed by Congress in 1985 to Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress
The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress—commonly referred to as the United States Poet Laureate—serves as the nation's official poet. During his or her term, the Poet Laureate seeks to raise the national consciousness to a greater appreciation of the reading and writing of...
.)
Poems from his earlier books display a mastery of formal verse with a modern sensibility that viewed such topics as automobiles, house flies, and drug stores as worthy of attention. Later work experimented with more open forms, beginning with The Bourgeois Poet (1964) and continuing with White-Haired Lover (1968). The influence of Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
, D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
, W. H. Auden
W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
and William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams was an American poet closely associated with modernism and Imagism. He was also a pediatrician and general practitioner of medicine, having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...
is evident in his work.
Shapiro's interest in formal verse and prosody led to his writing a long poem about the subjects, Essay on Rime (1945); A Bibliography of Modern Prosody (1948); and, with Robert Beum, A Prosody Handbook (1965; reissued 2006).
Selected Poems appeared in 1968, and Shapiro published one novel, Edsel (1971) and a three-part autobiography, "Poet" (1988–1990).
Shapiro edited the prestigious magazine, Poetry (see Poetry Magazine) for several years, and he was a professor of English at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, where he edited Prairie Schooner, and at the University of California, Davis
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis is a public teaching and research university established in 1905 and located in Davis, California, USA. Spanning over , the campus is the largest within the University of California system and third largest by enrollment...
, from which he retired in the mid-1980s.
His other works include Person, Place and Thing (1942), (with Ernst Lert
Ernst Lert
Ernst Joseph Maria Lert, originally Ernst Joseph Maria Levy was an Austrian stage director, writer, composer, librettist, and music historian. He was the brother of conductor Richard Lert who was married to writer Vicki Baum.Lert studied music history, piano, and singing at the University of Vienna...
) the libretto to Hugo Weisgall
Hugo Weisgall
Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions...
's opera The Tenor (1950), To Abolish Children (1968), and The Old Horsefly (1993). Shapiro received the 1969 Bollingen Prize for Poetry, sharing the award that year with John Berryman
John Berryman
John Allyn Berryman was an American poet and scholar, born in McAlester, Oklahoma. He was a major figure in American poetry in the second half of the 20th century and was considered a key figure in the Confessional school of poetry...
.
He died 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...
, aged 86, on May 14, 2000.
More recent editions of his work include The Wild Card: Selected Poems Early and Late (1998) and Selected Poems (2003).
Shapiro's last work, Coda: Last Poems, (2008) was recently published in a collected volume post-mortem by editor Robert Phillips. The poems, divided into three sections according to love poems to his last wife, poems concerning roses, and other various poems, were discovered in the drawers of Shapiro's desk by his wife two years after his death.
Awards
- Jeanette S Davis Prize and Levinson prize, both from Poetry in 1942
- Contemporary Poetry prize, 1943
- American Academy of Arts and Letters grant, 1944
- Guggenheim Foundation fellowships, 1944, 1953
- Pulitzer Prize in poetry, 1945, for V-Letter and Other Poems
- Shelley Memorial Prize, 1946
- Poetry Consultant at the Library of Congress (United States Poet Laureate), 1946–47
- Kenyon School of Letters fellowship, 1956–57
- Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize, 1961
- Oscar Blumenthal Prize, Poetry, 1963
- Bollingen Prize, 1968
- Robert Kirsch Award, LA Times, 1989
- Charity Randall Citation, 1990
- Fellow in American Letters, Library of Congress
Poetry collections
- Adult Bookstore (1976)
- Auto Wreck (1942)
- Collected Poems, 1940-1978 (1978)
- Essay on Rime (1945)
- New and Selected Poems, 1940-1987 (1988)
- Person, Place, and Thing (1942)
- The Fly (1942)
- Place of Love (1943)
- Poems (1935)
- Poems 1940-1953 (1953)
- Poems of a Jew (1950)
- Poet: Volume I: The Younger Son (1988)
- Selected Poems (Random House, 1968)
- Selected Poems (Library of America, 2003), edited by John UpdikeJohn UpdikeJohn Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....
. - The Bourgeois Poet (1964)
- The Old Horsefly (1993)
- The Place of Love (1943)
- Trial of a Poet (1947)
- V-Letter and Other Poems (1945)
- White Haired Lover (1968)
- The Wild Card: Selected Poems, Early and Late (1998)
- Coda: Last Poems (2008)
Autobiography
- Reports of My Death (1990)
- Poet: An Autobiography in Three Parts (Chapel Hill: Algonquin Books, 1988–1990)
Essay collections
- The Poetry Wreck (1975)
- To Abolish children and Other Essays (1968)
- A Primer for Poets (1965)
- In Defense of Ignorance (1960)
- Randall Jarrell (1967)
- Start With the Sun: Studies in the Whitman Tradition, with James E. Miller, Jr., and Bernice Slote (1963).
- Prose Keys to Modern Poetry (1962).
Secondary Sources
- Lee Bartlett, Karl Shapiro: A Descriptive Bibliography 1933-1977 (New York: Garland, 1979).
- Gail Gloston, Karl Shapiro, Delmore Schwartz, and Randall Jarrell: The Image of the Poet in the Late 1940s (Thesis: Reed College, 1957).
- Charles F. Madden, Talks With Authors (Carbondale: Southern Illinois U. Press, 1968).
- Hans OstromHans OstromHans Ansgar Ostrom is an American professor, writer, editor, and scholar.-Life:Ostrom was born in 1954 in Grass Valley, California. He grew up in the High Sierra town of Sierra City, population 225. His father was a carpenter and stonemason, and his mother was a home-maker and a substitute teacher...
, "Karl Shapiro 1913-2000" (poem), in The Coast Starlight: Collected Poems 1976-2006 (Indianapolis, 2006). - Joseph Reino, Karl Shapiro (New York: Twayne, 1981).
- Stephen Stepanchev, American Poetry Since 1945: A Critical Survey (1965).
- Melvin B. TolsonMelvin B. TolsonMelvin Beaunorus Tolson was an American Modernist poet, educator, columnist, and politician. His work concentrated on the experience of African Americans and includes several long historical poems. His work was influenced by his study of the Harlem Renaissance, although he spent nearly all of...
, Harlem Gallery (1965), with an introduction by Karl Shapiro. - Sue Walker, ed., Seriously Meeting Karl Shapiro (Mobile: Negative Capability Press, 1993).
- William White, Karl Shapiro: A Bibliography, with a note by Karl Shapiro (Detroit: Wayne State U. Press, 1960).