Ai (poet) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ai
Born	Florence Anthony October 21, 1947 Albany, Texas, United States
Died	March 20, 2010 (aged 62) Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States
Occupation	Poet
Genre	Contemporary American Literature
Notable works	Vice (1999)
Notable awards	National Book Award 1999

Ai Ogawa (born Florence Anthony; October 21, 1947 – March 20, 2010) was an American poet and teacher. She won the important National Book Award for Poetry in 1999. This award was for her book Vice: New and Selected Poems. Ai was famous for writing poems called dramatic monologues. In these poems, a character speaks directly to the reader. She also wrote about serious and sometimes difficult topics.

Ai's Early Life and Background

Ai was born in Albany, Texas, in 1947. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona. She also lived in other cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ai described her background as mixed. She had Japanese, Choctaw-Chickasaw, African American, Irish, Southern Cheyenne, and Comanche heritage.

She went to the University of Arizona for college. There, she studied English and Japanese. She also focused on creative writing. Ai learned that her biological father was Japanese when she was older. This discovery was important to her.

Ai's childhood was not always easy. She experienced poverty, which influenced her writing. She started writing actively at age 14. Her first writing experience was for a school assignment. She had to write a letter from the viewpoint of a historical figure.

Ai's Career as a Poet

Ai studied writing at the University of California at Irvine. She learned from famous poets like Charles Wright. She wrote many poetry books during her career.

Her books include:

• Cruelty (1973)
• Killing Floor (1979)
• Sin (1986)
• Fate (1991)
• Vice (1999) – This book won the National Book Award.
• Dread (2003)
• No Surrender (2010) – This book was published after she passed away.

Ai also received many other awards. These included honors from the Guggenheim Foundation. She also got awards from the National Endowment for the Arts. After winning the National Book Award, she became a professor. She taught at Oklahoma State University. She lived in Stillwater, Oklahoma, until her death.

Ai's Thoughts on Her Poetry

Ai considered herself "simply a writer." She did not want to be seen as speaking for any specific group. She often wrote her poems from the perspective of different characters. This is called a dramatic monologue. She believed her poems were strongest when written this way.

Writing About Different Characters

Ai explained that she chose to write about many different kinds of people. She said there was "a lot more to talk about with the scoundrels." This meant she enjoyed exploring the lives of complex characters. She felt like an "actor" when she wrote. This helped her write successfully as other characters.

Inspiration for Her Poems

Ai often found ideas for her poems in unexpected places. For example, she got the idea for her poem "Jimmy Hoffa's Odyssey" from a TV show. She would then read biographies to learn more about historical figures. This helped her write accurate and deep poems.

Exploring Difficult Topics

Ai's poems often dealt with serious and sometimes dark topics. She said that "violence is an integral part of American culture." She wanted to explore this in her writing. She aimed to show how people treated each other. She also wanted to show how they treated themselves.

Ai believed it was important to express strong feelings in poetry. She wanted to write whatever she felt without fear. She worked hard to deal with difficult subjects in her art.

Ai's Name Change

In 1973, Florence Anthony legally changed her name. She chose "Ai" (愛) as her middle name. This word means "love" in Japanese. She had been using this as her pen name since 1969. Her last name became Ogawa.

Ai's Passing

Ai passed away on March 20, 2010, at age 62. She was in Stillwater, Oklahoma. She had been in the hospital for pneumonia. She died from complications of breast cancer.

Selected Works

Poetry Collections

• Cruelty, Perseus Books Group, 1973, ISBN: 9780938410386
• Killing Floor, Houghton Mifflin, 1979, ISBN: 9780395275900
• Sin, Houghton Mifflin, 1986, ISBN: 9780395379073
• Fate, Houghton Mifflin, 1991, ISBN: 9780395556375
• Vice: New and Selected Poems, Norton, 1999, ISBN: 9780393047059 – winner of the National Book Award
• Dread: Poems, W.W. Norton, 2003, ISBN: 9780393041439

See Also

• List of writers from peoples indigenous to the Americas