Bert Olen States (August 8, 1929 in

Punxsutawney Punxsutawney (; Lenape: ' ) is a borough in southern Jefferson County, Pennsylvania. Punxsutawney is known globally for its annual Groundhog Day celebration held each February 2, during which thousands of attendees and international media outl ...

, Pennsylvania – October 13, 2003 in Santa Barbara) was a

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, critic and a professor emeritus of

dramatic arts Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

. He earned a B.A (1950) and M.A. (1955) from

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. He went on to study at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, earning in 1960 a Doctorate in Fine Arts. He taught at the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

(1959–60),

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a private liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,650 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree in one of more than 60 areas of study. History Sk ...

(1960–64) and at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

(1964–67). He was an associate and full professor at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

(1967–78) and a professor at the department of Dramatic Art at

. Acting (1978–1994). He was the Associate Editor for Theatre Journal and Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. In the early 1950s while when in military service, he wrote scripts for documentaries for the Armed Forces Radio Service. States has written several books and article on literary and dramatic theory and on dreams. In 1951, he married Nancy Beun and is the father of two children: Jerri and Eric.

Books

* Irony and Drama: A Poetics. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1971. * The Shape of Paradox: An Essay on ‘Waiting for Godot.’ Berkeley: U of California P, 1978. * Great Reckonings in Little Rooms: On the Phenomenology of Theatre. Berkeley: U of California P, 1985. * The Rhetoric of Dreams. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1988. * ‘Hamlet’ and the Concept of Character. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1992. * Dreaming and Storytelling. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1993. * The Pleasure of the Play. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 1994. * Seeing in the Dark: Reflections on Dreams and Dreaming. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 1997.

Plays

* The Tall Grass, 1954 * A Rent in the Universe, 1967. * Ralph, 1975. *The Mind of a Dreamer, 1983

External links

Personal Page
at University of California

{{DEFAULTSORT:States, Bert O. 1929 births 2003 deaths People from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights Pennsylvania State University alumni Yale University alumni Skidmore College faculty University of Pittsburgh faculty University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Cornell University alumni