Peter Balakian
Encyclopedia
Peter Balakian is a poet
, writer
and academic, the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities at Colgate University
.
to an Armenian family. He was raised in Teaneck and Tenafly, New Jersey
. He earned a B.A. from Bucknell University
, an M.A. from New York University
, and a Ph.D.
, in American Civilization, from Brown University
. He has taught at Colgate University
since 1980. He is the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities in the Department of English and director of Colgate's creative writing program. He was the first director of Colgate’s Center for Ethics and World Societies.
Balakian’s memoir Black Dog of Fate (1997) was winner of the PEN/Albrand Prize for memoir and a New York Times Notable Book. The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response (2003) received the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book and New York Times and national best seller.
Balakian is also the author of Theodore Roethke’s Far Fields (Louisiana State University Press, 1989). His essays on poetry, culture, and art have appeared in many publications including Ararat
, Art In America, American Poetry Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The American Quarterly, American Book Review, and Poetry.
Balakian was co-founder and co-editor (with Bruce Smith) of the poetry magazine Graham House Review, which was published from 1976 to 1996. He is the translator (with Nevart Yaghlian) of Bloody News From My Friend by the Armenian poet Siamanto (Wayne State University Press, 1996).
Balakian’s prizes and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, 1999; National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 2004; PEN/Martha Albrand Prize for Memoir, 1998; Raphael Lemkin Prize, 2005 (best book in English on the subject of human rights and genocide); New Jersey Council for the Humanities Book Award, 1998; Daniel Varoujan Prize, New England Poetry Club, 1986; Anahid Literary Prize, Columbia University Armenian Center, 1990. He is also a recipient of the Khorenatsi medal
.
Four fine limited editions of Balakian’s poems have been published by The Press of Appletree Alley (Lewisburg, PA). Translations and editions of Balakian’s books appear in Armenian, Bulgarian, Dutch, German, Greek, Russian, and Turkish. Balakian has lectured widely in the United States and abroad and has appeared often on national television and radio.
Prose
Armenian Golgotha (2009)
Translation
Editor
Recordings
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...
, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
and academic, the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities at Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
.
Life
Balakian was born in 1951, in Teaneck, New JerseyTeaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 39,776, making it the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County....
to an Armenian family. He was raised in Teaneck and Tenafly, New Jersey
Tenafly, New Jersey
Tenafly is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 14,488. Tenafly is an affluent suburb of New York City....
. He earned a B.A. from Bucknell University
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts university located alongside the West Branch Susquehanna River in the rolling countryside of Central Pennsylvania in the town of Lewisburg, 30 miles southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles north of Harrisburg. The university consists of the College of...
, an M.A. from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
, and a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
, in American Civilization, from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
. He has taught at Colgate University
Colgate University
Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York, USA. The school was founded in 1819 as a Baptist seminary and later became non-denominational. It is named for the Colgate family who greatly contributed to the university's endowment in the 19th century.Colgate has 52...
since 1980. He is the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of the Humanities in the Department of English and director of Colgate's creative writing program. He was the first director of Colgate’s Center for Ethics and World Societies.
Career
Peter Balakian is the author of five books of poems, including, most recently, June-tree: New and Selected Poems 1974-2000. His other books are Father Fisheye (1979), Sad Days of Light (1983), Reply From Wilderness Island (1988), Dyer’s Thistle (1996), and several fine limited editions. His poems have appeared widely in American magazines and journals such as The Nation, The New Republic, Antaeus, Partisan Review, Poetry, Agni, and The Kenyon Review; and in anthologies such as New Directions in Prose and Poetry, The Morrow Anthology of Younger American Poets, Poetry’s 75th Anniversary Issue (1987), The Wadsworth Anthology of Poetry and others.Balakian’s memoir Black Dog of Fate (1997) was winner of the PEN/Albrand Prize for memoir and a New York Times Notable Book. The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America’s Response (2003) received the 2005 Raphael Lemkin Prize and was a New York Times Notable Book and New York Times and national best seller.
Balakian is also the author of Theodore Roethke’s Far Fields (Louisiana State University Press, 1989). His essays on poetry, culture, and art have appeared in many publications including Ararat
Ararat Quarterly
Ararat Quarterly is an international quarterly of literature, history, popular culture and the arts published in EnglishThe quarterly is published by the Armenian General Benevolent Union in New York, NY....
, Art In America, American Poetry Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The American Quarterly, American Book Review, and Poetry.
Balakian was co-founder and co-editor (with Bruce Smith) of the poetry magazine Graham House Review, which was published from 1976 to 1996. He is the translator (with Nevart Yaghlian) of Bloody News From My Friend by the Armenian poet Siamanto (Wayne State University Press, 1996).
Balakian’s prizes and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, 1999; National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 2004; PEN/Martha Albrand Prize for Memoir, 1998; Raphael Lemkin Prize, 2005 (best book in English on the subject of human rights and genocide); New Jersey Council for the Humanities Book Award, 1998; Daniel Varoujan Prize, New England Poetry Club, 1986; Anahid Literary Prize, Columbia University Armenian Center, 1990. He is also a recipient of the Khorenatsi medal
Khorenatsi medal
The Khorenatsi medal is the Republic of Armenia's highest cultural award. It is presented by the president to people who have significantly contributed to the advancement of Armenian culture....
.
Four fine limited editions of Balakian’s poems have been published by The Press of Appletree Alley (Lewisburg, PA). Translations and editions of Balakian’s books appear in Armenian, Bulgarian, Dutch, German, Greek, Russian, and Turkish. Balakian has lectured widely in the United States and abroad and has appeared often on national television and radio.
Works
Poetry- Father Fisheye (1979)
- Sad Days of Light (1983)
- Reply From Wilderness Island (1988)
- Dyer’s Thistle (1996)
- June-Tree: New and Selected Poems, 1974-2000 (2001)
- Ziggurat (2010)
Prose
- Theodore Roethke’s Far Fields (1989)
- Black Dog of Fate, A Memoir (1997)
- The Burning TigrisThe Burning TigrisThe Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response presents a narrative of the massacres of the Armenians during the 1890s and genocide in 1915 at the responsibility of the Ottoman government. Using archival documents and first-person accounts, Peter Balakian shows the history of how...
: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response (2003)
Armenian Golgotha (2009)
Translation
- Bloody News From My Friend, by SiamantoSiamantoAtom Yarjanian , better known by his pen name Siamanto , was an influential Armenian writer, poet and national figure from the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was killed by the Ottoman authorities during the Armenian Genocide.- Life :He was born in 1878, in the town on Ağın on the...
, translated by Peter Balakian and Nevart Yaghlian, introduction by Balakian (1996)
Editor
- Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story, preface by Robert Jay Lifton, introduction by Roger Smith, afterword by Henry Morgenthau III. (2003)
- Limited Editions (all from The Press of Appletree Alley, Lewisburg, PA)
- Declaring Generations, linoleum engravings by Barnard Taylor ( 1981)
- Invisible Estate, woodcuts by Rosalyn Richards (1985)
- The Oriental Rug, linoleum engravings by Barnard Taylor (1986)
- The Children’s Museum at Yad Vashem, illustrated by Colleen Shannon (1996)
Recordings
- Poetry on Record, 1888-2006: 98 Poets Read their Work (Tennyson, Whitman, Yeats, through Modernism to present. Four-CD set. Balakian reading “The History of Armenia”
External links
- Interview transcript & audio of Balakian reading his poems: Cortland Review, March 2001
- Colgate: Academics, Peter Balakian
- Biography at HarperCollins
- Books by Balakian at Amazon.com
- Presentation of Lemkin Award to Peter Balakian to Feature Rare Film of Raphael Lemkin, The Armenian Reporter, October 29, 2005
- Black Dog of Fate by Balakian, Student Reviews, 2004