Robert Creeley biography

Synopsis

Poet and writer Robert Creeley was one of the originators of the Black Mountain school of poetry where he developed a spare, minimalist style evident in For Love: Poems 1950–60. His manner became even more fragmentary in later volumes, notably Words, Pieces, Hello: A Journal, and Memory Gardens. He was the recipient of the Frost Medal (1987) and the Bollingen Prize in American poetry (1999).

Profile

Poet and writer, born in Arlington, Massachusetts, USA. He studied for a while at Harvard, then worked at a variety of jobs until he began to write. During the 1950s he studied and taught at the Black Mountain College, NC and later became visiting professor at a number of US universities. From 1978 he was professor of poetry at the State University of New York. One of the originators of the Black Mountain school of poetry, he developed a spare, minimalist style evident in For Love: Poems 1950–60 (1960). His manner became even more fragmentary in later volumes, notably Words (1965), Pieces (1969), Hello: A Journal (1978), and Memory Gardens (1986). Life and Death and The Dogs of Auckland appeared in 1998. He was admitted to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1988, and was the recipient of the Frost Medal (1987) and the Bollingen Prize in American poetry (1999).