Last Updated: 02 Mar, 2023 | Views: 143
Age: 96
Profession: Poet
Other Profession(s): Translator
Famous For: Things of This World
Higher Education: Graduated
About (Profile/Biography):
Richard Purdy Wilbur is a poet who was born on March 1, 1921and died on October 14, 2017. A poet and literary translator, he was born in New York City. In addition to his wit, charm, and gentlemanly elegance, Wilbur's work, primarily in traditional forms, was one of the foremost poets. His two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, in 1957 and 1989, made him the second Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress.
Career:
The first poem Wilbur published was in John Martin's Magazine when he was only eight years old.
1947: Wilbur was published that his first collection of poems, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, was published.
1959: The Laurel Poetry Series (Dell Publishing) was named after him.
"Glitter and be gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow" are among the songs he wrote for Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical Candide.
1994: His National Medal of Arts was presented to him by President Clinton.
2003: A PEN/Ralph Manheim Translation Medal was also awarded to him in 1994. His induction into the American Theater Hall of Fame took place.
2012: Wilbur was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters from Yale University.
Awards:
Drama Desk Special Award
PEN Translation Prize
National Book Award
Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry
Death:
At the age of 96, Wilbur died of natural causes in a Belmont, Massachusetts, nursing home on October 14, 2017.
