John Hollander facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John Hollander
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| Born | October 28, 1929 Manhattan |
| Died | August 17, 2013 (aged 83) Branford, Connecticut |
| Alma mater | Columbia University (BA, MA) Indiana University (PhD) |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Spouse | Anne Loesser; Natalie Charkow |
| Children | Martha Hollander, Elizabeth Hollander |
John Hollander (born October 28, 1929 – died August 17, 2013) was a famous American poet and literary critic. He was known for his clever use of language and his deep understanding of how poetry works. Before he passed away, he was a respected professor of English at Yale University. He also taught at other colleges like Connecticut College and Hunter College.
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Life Story of John Hollander
John Hollander was born in Manhattan, New York, in 1929. His parents, Muriel and Franklin Hollander, were immigrants. He had a younger brother, Michael, who became a well-known architecture professor.
Early Education and College Years
John went to the Bronx High School of Science. After that, he studied at Columbia College of Columbia University. There, he learned from famous teachers like Mark Van Doren and Lionel Trilling. He was in college at the same time as other future writers and thinkers. John was part of the Boar's Head Society, a literary group at Columbia.
After college, John worked for a while writing notes for classical music albums. He then went back to school, earning a master's degree and a PhD from Indiana University.
Family Life and Later Years
John Hollander lived in Woodbridge, Connecticut. He enjoyed helping students with their poetry and even judged high-school poetry contests.
He had two daughters, Martha and Elizabeth, with his first wife, Anne Loesser. Martha also became a writer. John later married Natalie Charkow in 1981.
John Hollander passed away in Branford, Connecticut, in 2013. He was 83 years old.
John Hollander's Poetic Work
John Hollander believed that poems should sound good when read aloud. He said, "A good poem satisfies the ear." He thought that poetry was like music made with words. He often talked about how important the human voice is in poetry.
Unique Poetic Styles
Hollander was very skilled with poetic forms. One of his most famous works is "Powers of Thirteen." This long poem has 169 stanzas, each with 13 lines and 13 syllables per line. A stanza is like a paragraph in a poem. These rules actually helped his imagination flow, creating many interesting metaphors. A metaphor is a way of describing something by saying it is something else, like "the moon is a pearl."
He also wrote poems that looked like shapes on the page, called "graphematic" emblems. An example is his book Type of Shapes. He also wrote "epistolary" poems, which are like letters, found in Reflections on Espionage.
Influence on Other Poets
John Hollander taught at Yale University and inspired many students. Two poets, Todd LaRoche and Karl Kirchwey, studied with him at Yale. Kirchwey remembered how passionate Hollander was about poetry. He taught them that they could build their lives around writing poems.
Other Contributions
Besides writing and teaching, Hollander also worked as an editor for magazines like Partisan Review and Harper's Magazine. He was also a poetry critic, meaning he wrote reviews and analyses of other poets' works.
His poems were even turned into music by composers like Milton Babbitt. In 2007, the famous band the Eagles used his poem "An Old Fashioned Song" to create their song "No More Walks in the Wood."
Awards and Recognitions
John Hollander received many awards for his poetry and literary work:
- 2006: He was named the Poet Laureate of Connecticut. This is an official poet for the state.
- 2006: He won the Robert Fitzgerald Prosody Award.
- 2002: He received the Philolexian Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement.
- 1990: He was given a MacArthur Fellowship, often called a "genius grant."
- 1983: He won the Bollingen Prize for his book Powers of Thirteen.
- 1979: He became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
- 1958: His first book of poems, A Crackling of Thorns, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Competition. It was chosen by the famous poet W. H. Auden.
Selected Works by John Hollander
John Hollander wrote many books of poetry and criticism. Here are some of his notable works:
- A Crackling of Thorns (1958) – His first book of poems.
- Movie-Going (1962) – A collection of poems.
- Types of Shape (1969) – Poems that form shapes on the page.
- The Night Mirror (1971) – A book of poems.
- Vision and Resonance (1975) – A book of literary criticism.
- Reflections on Espionage (1976) – Poems written like letters.
- Rhyme's Reason: A Guide to English Verse (1981) – A guide to understanding poetry forms.
- Powers of Thirteen (1983) – His famous poem sequence.
- Animal Poems (1994) – Poems about animals.
- The Gazer's Spirit: Poems Speaking to Silent Works of Art (1995) – Criticism about poetry and art.
- Committed to Memory: 100 Best Poems to Memorize (1996) – A collection he edited.
- Picture Window (2003) – A book of poems.
