Alicia Elsbeth Stallings (born July 2, 1968) is an American

New Formalist ''The New Formalist'' was a United States-based literary periodical published (since 2001) monthly in electronic form and once a year in print form. Distributed by ''The New Formalist Press'' and edited by Leo Yankevich, it published many of th ...

and

Philhellene Philhellenism ("the love of Greek culture") was an intellectual movement prominent mostly at the turn of the 19th century. It contributed to the sentiments that led Europeans such as Lord Byron and Charles Nicolas Fabvier to advocate for Greek i ...

poet and translator. A fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, she was named a 2011

MacArthur Fellow The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 ind ...

(the "Genius Grant").

Background

Stallings was born and raised in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in ...

and studied

classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

(

A.B. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

, 1990) and the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

(

MSt The Master of Studies or Master in Studies (M.St. or MSt; ) is a postgraduate degree at the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of St Andrews, the Australian National University, University of Dublin and the University of Ne ...

in Latin Literature, 1991,

Lady Margaret Hall Lady Margaret Hall (LMH) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, located on the banks of the River Cherwell at Norham Gardens in north Oxford and adjacent to the University Parks. The college is more formall ...

). She is an editor with the ''

Atlanta Review ''Atlanta Review'' is an international poetry journal based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded by Daniel Veach in 1994 and is published twice a year. Karen Head of the Georgia Institute of Technology became editor in 2016. The jou ...

''. In 1999, Stallings moved to Athens, Greece and has lived there ever since. She is the Poetry Program Director of the Athens Centre. She is married to John Psaropoulos, who was the editor of the ''

Athens News ''Athens News'' was an English-language newspaper published in Greece. The paper had regular sections covering aspects of Greek news such as politics, social issues, business, arts & entertainment and sports, as well as international news. Featur ...

''. Stallings's poetry uses traditional forms, and she has been associated with the

New Formalism New Formalism is a late 20th- and early 21st-century movement in American poetry that has promoted a return to metrical, rhymed verse and narrative poetry on the grounds that all three are necessary if American poetry is to compete with novels an ...

. She is a frequent contributor of poems and essays to ''

Poetry magazine ''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundat ...

'' and the

Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

. Her work has been published in

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication i ...

The Sewanee Review ''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It publishes original fiction and poetry, essays, reviews, and literary criticism. History ''Th ...

Beloit Poetry Journal The ''Beloit Poetry Journal'' is an American poetry magazine established in 1950 at Beloit College.Lucretius Titus Lucretius Carus ( , ; – ) was a Roman poet and philosopher. His only known work is the philosophical poem ''De rerum natura'', a didactic work about the tenets and philosophy of Epicureanism, and which usually is translated into E ...

's ''

De Rerum Natura ''De rerum natura'' (; ''On the Nature of Things'') is a first-century BC didactic poem by the Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius ( – c. 55 BC) with the goal of explaining Epicurean philosophy to a Roman audience. The poem, written in some 7 ...

'' (''The Nature of Things'') and, in 2018, a verse translation of Hesiod's ''

Works and Days ''Works and Days'' ( grc, Ἔργα καὶ Ἡμέραι, Érga kaì Hēmérai)The ''Works and Days'' is sometimes called by the Latin translation of the title, ''Opera et Dies''. Common abbreviations are ''WD'' and ''Op''. for ''Opera''. is a ...

'', both with

Penguin Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Western ...

Critical response

In nominating Stallings for the position of

Oxford Professor of Poetry The Professor of Poetry is an academic appointment at the University of Oxford. The chair was created in 1708 by an endowment from the estate of Henry Birkhead. The professorship carries an obligation to lecture, but is in effect a part-time po ...

in 2015, British literary critic and scholar

Sir Christopher Ricks Sir Christopher Bruce Ricks (born 18 September 1933) is a British literary critic and scholar. He is the William M. and Sara B. Warren Professor of the Humanities at Boston University (US), co-director of the Editorial Institute at Boston Uni ...

wrote: "The poems of A. E. Stallings are never less than the true voice of feeling, and always more ... she is able to realize in her poems the myriad minds of Europe." The MacArthur Fellowship committee praised her "mastery" of poetic form, declaring that: " rough her technical dexterity and graceful fusion of content and form, Stallings is revealing the timelessness of poetic expression and antiquity's relevance for today." In a review for her book ''Archaic Smile'',

Able Muse ''Able Muse'' is a literary magazine established in 1999 by editor-in-chief Alexander Pepple in San Jose, California. It started as an online publication, publishing poems, short stories, essays, book reviews, art, and photography from authors wo ...

, a formalist online poetry journal, noted that, "For all of Stallings' formal virtuosity, few of her poems are strictly metrically regular. Indeed, one of the pleasant surprises of ''Archaic Smile'' is the number of superb poems in the gray zone between free and blank verse." Her work has been favorably compared to the poetry of

Richard Wilbur Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 – October 14, 2017) was an American poet and literary translator. One of the foremost poets of his generation, Wilbur's work, composed primarily in traditional forms, was marked by its wit, charm, and gentle ...

and

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

. In a review of her second book, ''Hapax'',

Peter Campion Peter Campion (born 1976) is an American poet. He graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA, and from Boston University with an MA. He taught at Washington College, Ashland University, and Auburn University. He currently teaches at Universi ...

critically wrote that, "The meter and rhyme unfold elegantly, but at the expense of idiom," a criticism that is commonly aimed at the Formalist poets. On a positive note, Campion also states that, " er best poems in the collectionmatch prosodic talent with intensely rendered feelings." In a review for her collection ''Olives'', ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' stated that they were most impressed with those poems that were not responses to ancient mythology, noting, "When she unleashes her technical gifts upon poems in which she builds a new narrative instead of building upon an old one, Stallings achieves a restrained, stark poise that is threatening even by New Formalism standards."

Awards

Her debut poetry collection, ''Archaic Smile'', was awarded the 1999

Richard Wilbur Award The Richard Wilbur Award is an American poetry award and publishing prize given by University of Evansville in Indiana. It is named in honor of the American poet Richard Wilbur and was established by William Baer, a professor at the University o ...

and was a finalist for both the Yale Younger Poets Series and the

Walt Whitman Award The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

. Her second collection, ''Hapax'' (2006), was awarded the 2008

Poets' Prize The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who ...

. Her poems have appeared in ''

The Best American Poetry ''The Best American Poetry'' series consists of annual poetry anthologies, each containing seventy-five poems. Background The series, begun by poet and editor David Lehman in 1988, has a different guest editor every year. Lehman, still the general ...

'' anthologies of 1994, 2000, 2015, 2016, and 2017. She has been awarded a

Pushcart Prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

, the Eunice Tietjens Prize, the 2004

Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award The Howard Nemerov Sonnet Award was established in 1994 by '' The Formalist.'' The award, honoring the poet Howard Nemerov (1920–1991), was an open competition for sonnets in English that drew about 3000 entries annually. Essay by three-time Neme ...

, and the James Dickey Prize. In 2010, she was awarded the

Willis Barnstone Translation Prize The Willis Barnstone Translation Prize is an annual award given to an exceptional translation of a poem from any language into English. The prize was inaugurated in 2002 by the University of Evansville, and has been presented annually since 2003. T ...

. In 2011, she won a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, received a

MacArthur Foundation Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

and was named a Fellow of

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

. In 2012, the book ''Olives'' was a finalist for the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States of America, United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bow ...

. In 2019, her book ''Like'' was a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first presented in 1922, and is given for a distinguished volume of original verse by an American author, published ...

Books

* * * Verse translation of Lucretius's ''

''. * * * Verse translation of

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

's ''Works and Days''. * * '''The Battle Between the Frogs and the Mice': A Tiny Homeric Epic''. Paul Dry. 2019. . Verse translation of the ''

Batrachomyomachia The ''Batrachomyomachia'' ( grc, Βατραχομυομαχία, from , "frog", , "mouse", and , "battle") or ''Battle of the Frogs and Mice'' is a comic epic, or a parody of the ''Iliad'', commonly attributed to Homer, although other authors ha ...

''. *

References

External links

Archived
2009-10-23)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stallings, A. E. American philhellenes Formalist poets Pseudonymous women writers Poets from Georgia (U.S. state) University of Georgia alumni Writers from Atlanta 1968 births Living people People from Decatur, Georgia MacArthur Fellows Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences American women poets Latin–English translators American expatriates in Greece 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American poets 21st-century translators 21st-century American women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers