Gerald Stern facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Gerald Stern
|
|
|---|---|
.jpg)
Stern at the Miami Book Fair International in 2011
|
|
| Born | February 22, 1925 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | October 27, 2022 (aged 97) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation |
|
| Education | |
| Spouse |
Patricia Miller
(m. 1952, divorced) |
| Partner | Anne Marie Macari |
| Children | 2 |
Gerald Daniel Stern (born February 22, 1925 – died October 27, 2022) was an American poet, essayist, and teacher. He wrote many books of poetry and essays. Stern taught literature and creative writing at several universities. These included Temple University and the famous Iowa Writers' Workshop. From 2009 until he passed away, he was a special poet-in-residence at Drew University.
Stern studied at the University of Pittsburgh and Columbia University. He also attended the University of Paris. He won the National Book Award for Poetry in 1998 for his book This Time: New and Selected Poems. In 1991, he was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. In 2000, he became the first Poet Laureate of New Jersey. This means he was the official poet for the state.
Contents
Early Life of Gerald Stern
Gerald Stern was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 22, 1925. His parents, Harry and Ida Barach Stern, came to the United States in 1905. They were Jewish and came from Ukraine and Poland. His family owned clothing stores and sold other items.
Stern went to Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh. He graduated in 1942. He first tried to join the military but was turned down because of his eyesight. Later, he served in the Army Air Forces from 1946 to 1947. He then studied at the University of Pittsburgh, getting his first degree in 1947. Two years later, he earned a master's degree from Columbia University.
Gerald Stern's Career in Writing and Teaching
After finishing his master's degree, Stern moved to Europe. He planned to study more at the University of Paris. However, he did not finish his degree there. Instead, he spent his twenties traveling between New York City and Europe. During this time, he began to write and publish his poems.
Stern returned to the United States in 1956. He started teaching at Temple University for seven years. He then taught at Indiana University of Pennsylvania for four years. After a break, he taught at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey. He also briefly taught at his old school, the University of Pittsburgh, in 1979.
Later, he joined the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He taught there for 14 years until he retired in 1996. After retiring, Stern taught for a while at Sarah Lawrence College.
His Published Works and Awards
Gerald Stern published his first poem, "The Pineys," in 1969. Four years later, he released his first book of poems called Rejoicings. His work became well-known after his second book, Lucky Life, came out in 1977. This book won the Lamont Poetry Selection. It was also nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry.
Stern also wrote essays about writing poetry for American Poetry Review. He received many awards for his writing. These included the 1996 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. He won the 1998 National Book Award for This Time: New and Selected Poems. In 2012, he received the Library of Congress Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Award for Early Collected Poems: 1965–1992.
He was the Poet Laureate of New Jersey from 2000 to 2002. In 2005, he received the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. From 2006, Stern was a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.
Besides these schools, Stern also taught at Rutgers University. In the mid-1970s, he worked as a literature consultant. He helped the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. He also helped with Pennsylvania's poetry in schools program. Stern was a teacher and co-founder of New England College's Master of Fine Arts Program in Poetry.
Personal Life
Gerald Stern married Patricia Miller in 1952. They had two children together. They divorced in the 1980s. For the last 25 years of his life, he was with poet Anne Marie Macari. He lived in New York City and Miami Beach, Florida.
Gerald Stern passed away on October 27, 2022. He was 97 years old. He died at the Calvary Hospice in New York City.
Honors and Awards
- 1976 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
- 1977 Lamont Poetry Selection
- 1980 Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1981 Melville Caine Award
- 1982 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
- 1987 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
- 1991 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry Finalist
- 1992 Paterson Poetry Prize
- 1996 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
- 1998 National Book Award for Poetry
- 2000–2002 Poet Laureate of New Jersey
- 2005 National Jewish Book Award in Poetry
- 2005 Wallace Stevens Award
- 2012 Library of Congress Rebekah Johnson Bobbitt National Award
See also
In Spanish: Gerald Stern para niños
