Charles Kenneth "C. K." Williams (November 4, 1936 – September 20, 2015) was an American poet, critic and translator. Williams won many poetry awards. ''Flesh and Blood'' won the

National Book Critics Circle The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...

Award in 1987. ''Repair'' (1999) won the 2000

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 ...

, was a

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

finalist"National Book Awards – 1999"

National Book Foundation The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established, "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America". Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: 'The Joy Luc ...

. Retrieved 2012-04-08. and won the

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ...

. ''The Singing'' won the 2003

and Williams received the

Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation, which also publishes ''Poetry'' magazine. The prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. It honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordina ...

in 2005. The 2012 film ''

The Color of Time ''The Color of Time'' (aka ''Tar'') is a 2012 American independent biographical drama film written and directed by twelve New York University film students whose teacher was James Franco. The film stars James Franco (who also produced), Mila Kunis ...

'' relates aspects of Williams' life using his poetry.

Life

The American poet C.K. Williams was born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Lvov, Ukraine. He went to

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

in Maplewood, attended

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering ...

for one year, then moved on to and graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

. He started writing poetry during his second year at Penn, and half-way through junior year he left for Paris. At that time, he wrote "I fell into a period of lacerating loneliness. I'd always been a little shy but now something, maybe my uncertainty about my identity as a poet, my sense of being a pretender, made me all but mute with strangers: I used to stay all day in my hotel room, reading, trying to write, then I'd go out to eat by myself, and take endless, anguished walks."Williams, C.K. (1997) Contemporary Authors, Autobiography Series, Vol. 26, GALE (Shelly Andrews, editor) When he returned to Penn, he switched major from philosophy to English. He studied poetry with Morse Peckham, who also mentioned that

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...

had written that if you wanted to be a poet, you had to write poetry every day, a recommendation Williams applied in his writing life.

After graduating from Penn, he stayed in Philadelphia. His circle of friends included artists, carpenters, poets, a famous sociologist, photographers, musicians and film makers. He spent time with young architects who worked for Louis Kahn, and later wrote: "I realized that my image of the artist's calling had come almost entirely from Kahn: he was absolutely devoted to his craft, and expected the same dedication from everyone else." He published his first book, ''Lies'', in 1969. In 1963 he married Sarah Dean Jones, a printer who worked for Eugene Feldman at the Falcon Press in Philadelphia. The marriage ended in divorce. Their daughter, Jessie Williams Burns, founded Tursulowe Press in Philadelphia. In 1973 he met Catherine Mauger. They married in 1975 and had a son, Jed Williams, a painter and the owner of an art gallery in Philadelphia. His paintings are often featured on the covers of Williams' books. Catherine and C.K. lived part of the year in the USA, and part of the year in Paris, France, and later in Normandy. Williams began teaching in the mid-'70s at the YM-YWHA in Philadelphia. He also worked as an assistant group therapist. He taught creative writing at different universities, among them, Franklin and Marshall, the University of California at Irvine,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with ...

, Brooklyn College,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, George Mason University and, starting in 1996,

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

. He traveled across the country, and out of the country, giving readings and poetry workshops. He also worked on translations, notably of two Greek tragedies. After publishing his second book, ''I Am the Bitter Name'', Williams said that he had felt like giving up writing. Then he was asked to read at a college of art in Philadelphia, and he decided to read some unfinished poems: "and I was astonished to realize that they were exactly what I'd been waiting for, though I hadn't known I'd been waiting for anything at all. The poems were long, ragged lines, they had a much more conversational tone than the poems I'd been writing. Most importantly, the new poems, while having a much more narrative structure than the older ones, also had much more direct mechanisms for tracing thoughts, perceptions and emotions; they gave me a way to deal more inclusively and exhaustively with my own mind than the poems I'd been writing until then. I began to write poetry again, with more conviction than ever, and more confidence, more of a sense of what I wanted to do (…) The scope of the poems, the certainty they gave me that I could deal thoroughly with themes that interested me, were enough to keep me going. They are the poems that were collected in ''With Ignorance'' and ''Tar''." C.K. Williams became a member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

in 2003. He had a wide circle of friends in the U.S. and in Europe, many of them artists and writers. He gave a last reading and interview at Drew University in June 2015. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in the summer of 2013. He died at home in

Hopewell, New Jersey Hopewell is a borough in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. This historical settlement is located within the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 1,918, a decreas ...

on September 20, 2015.C.K. Williams obituary
Twenty days earlier, he had finished working on the manuscript of his last book of poems, ''Falling Ill''.

Works

His first book, ''Lies'', was published in 1969, and he published many collections of poetry. His ''Collected Poems'' appeared in 2006, of which Peter Campion wrote in The Boston Globe: "Throughout the five decades represented in his new ''Collected Poems'', Williams has maintained the most sincere, and largest, ambitions. Like Yeats and Lowell before him, he writes from the borderland between private and public life…(His poems) join skeptical intelligence and emotional sincerity, to make sense of the world and ourselves. C.K. Williams has set a new standard for American poetry." His book ''Repair'' won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000, and in 2003 ''The Singing'' won the National Book Award. He also wrote essays, plays, children books and worked on translations. His last book of poetry, ''Falling Ill'', was published in 2017, after his death.

Bibliography

Poetry

;Collections * ''A Day for Anne Frank'', Falcon Press, Philadelphia, 1968. * ''Lies'', Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1969. * ''I Am the Bitter Name'', Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1972. * ''With Ignorance'', Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1977. * ''Tar'', Random House, New York, 1983. * ''The Lark. The Thrush. The Starling. Poems from Issa'', Burning Deck Press, Providence, 1983. * ''Flesh and Blood'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, New York, 1987; Bloodaxe Books, Newcastle, 1988. * ''Poems 1963–1983'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, New York, 1988; Bloodaxe Books, Newcastle, 1988. * ''Helen'', Orchises Press, 1991. * ''A Dream of Mind, Poems'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, New York, 1992; Bloodaxe Books, Newcastle, 1992. * ''Selected Poems'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1994. * ''New and Selected Poems'', Bloodaxe Books, Newcastle, 1995. * ''The Vigil'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1997. * ''Repair'', Farrar Straus and Giroux; Bloodaxe Books, 1999. * ''Love About Love'', Ausable Press, 2001. * ''The Singing'', Farrar Straus and Giroux; Bloodaxe Books, 2003. * ''Collected Poems'', Farrar Straus and Giroux; Bloodaxe Books, 2006. * ''Creatures'', Green Shade, Haverford, 2006. * ''Wait'', Farrar Straus and Giroux; Bloodaxe Books, 2010. * ''Crossing State Lines'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2011. * ''Writers Writing Dying'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2012. * ''All at Once'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2014. * ''Selected Later Poems'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2015 * ''Falling Ill'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017 ;List of poems

Prose

* ''Misgivings, My Mother, My Father, Myself'', Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2000. * ''Catherine's Laughter'', Sarabande Books, 2013.

Essays and criticism

* ''Poetry and Consciousness''; University of Michigan Press, 1998. * ''On Whitman'', Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2010. * ''In Time: Poets, Poems, and the Rest'', University of Chicago Press, 2012.

Plays

* ''The Operated Jew'' * ''Creatures of Love''

Translations

* ''Women of Trachis, translated from Sophocles'', with Gregory Dickerson, Oxford University Press, New York, London, 1978. * ''The Lark, The Thrush, The Starling'', Poems from Issa, Burning Deck, 1983. * ''The Bacchae, translated from Euripides'', with an introduction by Martha Nussbaum, Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1990. * ''Canvas, translation from the Polish of Adam Zagajewski'', with Renata Gorczynski and Benjamin Ivry, Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1991. * ''Selected Poems of Francis Ponge'', with John Montague and Margaret Guiton, Wake Forest University Press, 1994.

Books Published in French

* ''Chair et Sang'', Orphée La Différence, 1993 * ''Gratitude'', Editeurs Le Gui et Jacques Darras, 1996 * ''Anthologie Personnelle: Poèmes'', Actes Sud, 2001 * ''Dissentiments'', Actes Sud, 2006

Books edited

* ''The Selected and Last Poems of

Paul Zweig Paul Zweig (July 14, 1935 – August 29, 1984) was an American poet, memoirist, and critic known for his study on Walt Whitman. Biography Zweig was born in Brooklyn on July 14, 1935, and was raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Brighton ...

'', edited and with an introduction by C. K. Williams, Wesleyan University Press, 1989. * ''The Essential Hopkins'', edited and with an introduction by C. K. Williams, Ecco Press, 1993.

Children's books

* ''How the Nobble Was Finally Found'', Harcourt-Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 2009. * ''A Not Scary Story About Big Scary Things'' illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska, Harcourt-Houghton Mifflin, 2010.

Miscellaneous

* ''Solitudes'', a song cycle, set by Ronald Surak, 1970. * Script consultant for a film by David Lynch, ''The Grandmother''. * ''Criminals'', a film by Joseph Strick, narrative by C. K. Williams, 1994. * ''Crossing State Lines'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011. * ''The Color of Time'', a movie produced by James Franco, 2012.

Awards and honors

* John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, 1974. * Bernard Conner Prize, The Paris Review, 1983. * Nominee,

The American Poetry Review ''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizabet ...

, 1988, 1996. * Morton Dauwen Zabel Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1989. * Woodrow Wilson-Lila Wallace Fellow, 1992–93. * Nominee,

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".Lila Wallace Lila Bell Wallace (December 25, 1889 – May 8, 1984) was an American magazine publisher and philanthropist. She co-founded ''Reader's Digest'' with her husband Dewitt Wallace, publishing the first issue in 1922. Early life and education Born Li ...

-Reader's Digest Writer's Award, 1993. * Harriet Monroe Poetry Award, Poetry, 1993. * Nominee, National Book Critics Circle Award, for The Vigil, 1997. * Finalist, Pulitzer Prize, for The Vigil, 1997. * PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry, 1998. * Berlin Prize, American Academy in Berlin, 1998. * Finalist, National Book Award, for Repair, 1999. * American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, 1999 * Weathertop Poetry Award for Repair, 2000. * Maurice English Award for Repair, 2000. *

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

Book Award for Repair, 2000. * Pulitzer Prize, for Repair, 2000. * Pen/Albrand Memoir Award, for Misgivings, 2001. *

, for The Singing, 2003. *

, 2005. * Milton Kessler Poetry Prize, Binghamton University, 2012. * Jewish Book Prize, 2012.

Events

* A Piano and Poetry Recital. Richard Goode and C.K. Williams : a Princeton University concert on March 9, 2014 at Richardson Auditorium. The recital was recorded. * Dedication of "Garden", a poem by C.K. Williams, in October 2016, in the Poetry Trail of the D & R Greenway Land Trust : 1, Preservation Place, Princeton, N.J. 08540. * A Reading and Gathering to Celebrate the Life and Work of C.K. Williams took place at Kelly Writers House at Penn University in Philadelphia on April 11, 2016
Recording available
* A Tribute to C.K. Williams took place at The New School in New York City on February 22, 2017. The event was recorded.

References

External links

Poetry Foundation (U.S) biography
accessed 2010-02-10
Poetry Archive (U.K) biography and audio poetry recordings
accessed 2010-02-10
''Encyclopædia Britannica'' profile

accessed 2010-02-27 * ttps://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/nyregion/13profile.html ''Poet Marshals His Moral Passion Against the War'' New York Times article January 13, 2005accessed 2010-02-27 * *
"Poetry of youth and age" (TED2001)
accessed 2010-02-27

video of C.K. Williams' reading at the 3rd Area Reading Series, PHARMAKA Gallery, Los Angeles, March 19, 2009

C.K. Williams's acceptance speech for the 2003 Poetry Award for ''The Singing'', reading his poem "The Doves." Accessed November 30, 2010
'Song of Himself'
review of ''On Whitman'' in the ''

Oxonian Review ''The Oxonian Review'' is a literary magazine produced by postgraduate students at the University of Oxford. Every fortnight during term time, an online edition is published featuring reviews and essays on current affairs and literature. It is ...

''
"Poets in Person: C.K. Williams"
(HD Video), A family visit with C.K. Williams at his home in Hopewell, NJ, ''The Cortland Review'' – Winter 2011 Feature.
" C.K. Williams Memorial Reading, April 11, 2016"
Kelly Writers House, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, C. K. 1936 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American poets 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American poets American male poets Brooklyn College faculty Columbia High School (New Jersey) alumni Deaths from multiple myeloma Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters National Book Award winners The New Yorker people People from Hopewell, New Jersey Poets from New Jersey Princeton University faculty Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners University of Pennsylvania alumni Writers from Newark, New Jersey