Randall Jarrell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Randall Jarrell
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| Born | May 6, 1914 Nashville, Tennessee |
| Died | October 14, 1965 (aged 51) Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| Occupation | Poet, critic, and novelist |
| Notable works | The Woman at the Washington Zoo, The Lost World, Pictures from an Institution |
| Notable awards | National Book Award |
Randall Jarrell JƏ-rel (born May 6, 1914 – died October 14, 1965) was an American writer. He was a poet, a literary critic, and wrote books for children and adults.
He held an important job called the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Today, this job is known as the Poet Laureate of the United States. Jarrell won several awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Book Award for Poetry in 1961.
Contents
Randall Jarrell's Life
Early Life and School
Randall Jarrell was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He went to Hume-Fogg High School. There, he played tennis, acted in school plays, and started writing funny essays for a school magazine.
He then went to Vanderbilt University. He earned his first degree in 1935. At Vanderbilt, he was very active: he led the student humor magazine, captained the tennis team, and graduated with high honors.
Jarrell studied with famous writers like Robert Penn Warren, Allen Tate, and John Crowe Ransom. These teachers helped him publish his first writings and gave him his first teaching job. He also earned his master's degree in English from Vanderbilt in 1937.
When his teacher John Crowe Ransom moved to Kenyon College in Ohio, Jarrell followed him. He taught English there for two years. He also coached tennis and lived in a dorm with future writers like Robert Lowell. Lowell and Jarrell became close friends.
Becoming a Writer
From 1939 to 1942, Jarrell taught at the University of Texas at Austin. This is where he started publishing his literary reviews. He also met his first wife, Mackie Langham, there.
In 1942, he left teaching to join the United States Army Air Forces. He started as a flying cadet and later became a "celestial navigation tower operator." He thought this job title sounded very poetic. His experiences during World War II greatly influenced his early poems, like The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner.
After the war, Jarrell taught at Sarah Lawrence College in New York for a year. He also worked as a temporary book review editor for The Nation magazine. However, he did not like living in New York City. He found it too crowded and expensive.
He soon moved to the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina. There, he became an associate professor of English. He taught modern poetry and creative writing.
In 1952, Jarrell married Mary von Schrader. They lived in Greensboro with Mary's daughters. In 1956, he served as the Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. for two years. After his term, he returned to Greensboro.
His Death
Randall Jarrell died on October 14, 1965. He was walking near Chapel Hill, N.C., when he was hit by a car.
Randall Jarrell's Legacy
After his death, a special memorial service was held at Yale University in 1966. Many famous poets, including Robert Lowell and Richard Wilbur, attended and spoke.
Robert Lowell said that Jarrell was "the most heartbreaking poet of our time." He also said that Jarrell wrote "the best poetry in English about the Second World War." These tributes were later collected in a book called Randall Jarrell 1914-1965.
To honor him, historical markers were placed at his old high school, Hume-Fogg High School, and near his burial site in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Books for Children
Randall Jarrell wrote several books for children. Two of his most well-known children's books are The Bat-Poet (1964) and The Animal Family (1965). These books feature beautiful illustrations by Maurice Sendak.
Besides his own writing, Jarrell also translated many works. He translated poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, a play by Anton Chekhov, and several Grimm fairy tales.
