Rae Armantrout facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rae Armantrout
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Rae Armantrout in 2014
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| Born | April 13, 1947 |
| Education | San Diego State University University of California, Berkeley (BA) |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Awards | 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship |
Rae Armantrout, born on April 13, 1947, is an American poet. She is known for her unique style of poetry. Rae has written over 24 books of poetry and prose. Her book Versed won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2009. It was also nominated for the National Book Award. Versed later received the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2010. Rae Armantrout used to teach poetry at the University of California, San Diego before she retired.
Early Life and Education
Rae Armantrout was born in Vallejo, California. She grew up as an only child in military communities. Most of her childhood was spent on naval bases, especially in San Diego. In her autobiography True, published in 1998, she described her childhood as quiet. She was a sensitive child with parents who worked hard.
In 1965, Rae lived in the Allied Gardens area of San Diego. She started attending San Diego State University. Her first plan was to study anthropology. However, she soon changed her focus to English and American literature. Later, she continued her studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
At Berkeley, Rae Armantrout learned from the poet Denise Levertov. She also became good friends with Ron Silliman. This friendship was very important for both poets. They both became connected with a group of poets called the "Language poets." This group was active in San Francisco in the late 1980s.
Literary Journey and Awards
Rae Armantrout started publishing her poems in a magazine called Caterpillar in the early 1970s. From that time on, she truly saw herself as a poet. She earned a master's degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University. After that, she wrote her first book of poetry, Extremities, which came out in 1978.
Rae Armantrout's poems have been featured in many important collections. These include In The American Tree and Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology. Her work has also appeared several times in The Best American Poetry series.
Rae Armantrout has received several awards for her writing. She got a Fund For Poetry Grant twice. In 1989, she was given a California Arts Council Fellowship. She also received a Grants to Artists Award in 2007. In 2008, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, which is a special award for artists and scholars.
Rae Armantrout was part of a group of ten poets. They worked together on a project called The Grand Piano: An Experiment In Collective Autobiography. They started writing for these books in 1998. The first of ten volumes was published in November 2006.
Her book Wobble, released in November 2018, was a finalist for the National Book Award for Poetry. This shows how highly regarded her work is.
Poetic Style
Rae Armantrout was part of the original West Coast Language group of poets. While some Language poetry can be very abstract, Rae's work is often different. She focuses on everyday life and things around her home. This makes her poems feel more connected to real experiences. Many people see her as one of the most lyrical, or musical, poets from the Language group.
Rae Armantrout says that poet William Carlos Williams helped her understand how to use lines in her poems. She learned that breaking lines in certain ways can create suspense. It can also make meanings a little uncertain, by making the reader pause. In her poetry, the main unit of meaning is usually a stanza or a section. She writes both prose poetry and more traditional poems with stanzas.
In an interview, Rae Armantrout explained when she might write a prose poem. She said she tends to write them when she hears "the voice of a conventional narrator" in her mind.
Life Outside of Poetry
Rae Armantrout graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970. In 1971, she married Chuck Korkegian. They had been dating since her first year at the university. Today, Rae Armantrout lives in the Seattle area.
