'Genius And Need' Wins Prose Poet Gary Young Shelley Memorial Award | Books | Gu Mar 12, 2009 The Poetry Society of America has placed US prose poet Gary Young in the company of such luminaries as Elizabeth Bishop and EE Cummings after naming him the recipient of http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/mar/12/gary-young-shelley-memorial
Extractions: document.domain = "guardian.co.uk"; Turn autoplay off Turn autoplay on Please activate cookies in order to turn autoplay off guardian.co.uk Books Web The Poetry Society of America (PSA) has placed US prose poet Gary Young in the company of such luminaries as Elizabeth Bishop and EE Cummings after naming him the recipient of its prestigious Shelley Memorial award. Established in 1929, with Conrad Aiken the first winner, the $3,500 (£2,500) award is given annually to a living American poet "selected with reference to genius and need". Previous winners include Cummings, Bishop, Gary Snyder and Robert Creeley. Young, a lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said it was "incredibly humbling to be in their company". "It's always gratifying whenever one's work is recognised and valued, but to receive the Shelley award is particularly satisfying," he added. "Two of my dear friends and mentors, men with whom I studied as a young man — William Everson at UC Santa Cruz, and James McMichael at UC Irvine — also won the Shelley award."
Conrad Aiken Biography Conrad Aiken Biography Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, born in Savannah, http://www.famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/conrad_aiken/biography
Extractions: Conrad Aiken Biography Back to Poet Page Enlarge Picture Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, born in Savannah, Georgia, whose work includes poetry, short stories and novels. When he was very young, his father killed his mother, then himself. Needless to say this had a profound impact on Aiken's life. He was thereafter raised by his great-great-aunt in Massachusetts. Aiken was educated at private schools and at Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts then at Harvard University where he edited the Advocate with T.S. Eliot. Aiken graduated in 1912. He wrote the widely anthologised short story "Silent Snow, Secret Snow" (1934); his collections of verse include Earth Triumphant (1914), The Charnel Rose (1918), and And In the Hanging Gardens (1933). His poem "Music I Heard" has been set to music by a number of composers, including Leonard Bernstein and Henry Cowell.
