Anne Stevenson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Anne Stevenson
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Stevenson in 2009
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| Born | January 3, 1933 Cambridge, England |
| Died | September 14, 2020 (aged 87) Durham, England |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | British-American |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Notable works | Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath (1989) |
| Notable awards | Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award |
| Relatives | Charles Stevenson (father) |
Anne Stevenson (January 3, 1933 – September 14, 2020) was a talented poet and writer from both America and Britain. She was known for her beautiful poems and for winning a special award called the Lannan Literary Award.
Life of Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevenson was born in Cambridge, England, where her father, Charles Stevenson, was studying philosophy. When she was six months old, her family moved back to America, settling in New Haven, Connecticut. She grew up in New England and went to school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Her father was a philosophy professor and loved music and poetry. Her mother was a great storyteller and wrote fiction.
Anne learned to play the piano and cello. She thought she would become a professional musician until she was 19. She studied music and languages at the University of Michigan. During this time, she started to lose her hearing. Because of this, she decided to become a writer instead. She earned her degree in 1954 and then moved back to the UK, where she lived for the rest of her life.
Anne had three children and lived in several places in the UK, including Cambridge, Glasgow, Dundee, and Oxford. She was a writer-in-residence at the University of Dundee. She also helped start a poetry magazine called Other Poetry. In 1979, she opened The Poetry Bookshop in Hay-on-Wye. Later, she moved to Sunderland and then Durham, where she lived with her husband, Peter Lucas. By 2011, she had six grandchildren.
Stevenson wrote many books of poetry. She also wrote essays and literary criticism. One of her most famous books was a biography of the American poet Sylvia Plath, called Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath (1989). She also wrote two studies about another poet, Elizabeth Bishop. Anne used a hearing aid, and some of her poems, like "Hearing with my Fingers," talk about her experience with deafness.
She also wrote a poem called "The Miracle of Camp 60." This poem describes the Italian Chapel on the Orkney Island of Lamb Holm in 1992. It tells the story from the point of view of a made-up Italian former prisoner of war. Sometimes, "The miracle of Camp 60" is also used to refer directly to the Chapel itself.
Anne Stevenson passed away from heart failure on September 14, 2020, when she was 87 years old.
Awards and Recognition
Anne Stevenson received many awards for her writing, including:
- 1955 Major Hopwood Award for Poetry
- 1990 Athena Alumnae Award from the University of Michigan
- 1995 Cholmondeley Award
- 2002 inaugural winner of the Northern Rock Foundation Writer's Award
- 2007 Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2007 The Neglected Masters Award from the Poetry Foundation of America
- 2007 Taylor-Aiken Poet of the Year award from the University of the South in Tennessee
- 2008 Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the University of Michigan
Books by Anne Stevenson
Anne Stevenson wrote many books throughout her career. Here are some of her notable works:
- Living in America: Poems. Ann Arbor, MI: Generation Press, 1965.
- Elizabeth Bishop. New York: Twayne, 1966.
- Reversals. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1969.
- Correspondences: A Family History in Letters. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1974.
- Minute by Glass Minute. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.
- Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath. London: Viking, 1989.
- The Collected Poems of Anne Stevenson, 1955–1995. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
- Granny Scarecrow. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2000.
- Poems 1955–2005. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2005.
- Astonishment. Tarset: Bloodaxe Books, 2012.
- Completing the Circle. Hexham: Bloodaxe Books, 2020.
See also
In Spanish: Anne Stevenson para niños
