Heather McHugh
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Heather McHugh (born August 20, 1948) is an American
poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
notable for the independent ranges of her aesthetic as a poet, and for her working devotion to teaching and translating literature.


Life

Heather McHugh, a poet, translator, educator and caregiver-respite provider, was born in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
, to Canadian parents. They raised McHugh in
Gloucester Point, Virginia Gloucester Point is a census-designated place (CDP) in Gloucester County, Virginia, United States. The population was 9,402 at the 2010 census. It is home to the College of William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, a graduate school f ...
. There, her father directed the marine biological laboratory on the York River. She began writing poetry at age five and claims to have become an expert "eavesdropper" by the age of twelve. At the age of seventeen, she entered
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. One notable work was ''Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993'', which won the Bingham Poetry Prize of the Boston Book Review and the Pollack-Harvard Review Prize, and which was named by ''
The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'' a ''Notable Book of the Year''. Another was "Glottal Stop: Poems by Paul Celan" which, with Nikolai B. Popov, she co-translated and introduced; the book won the Griffin International Poetry Prize. McHugh was elected a Chancellor of the
Academy of American Poets 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 outreac ...
in 1999. She taught for some 40 years at American colleges and universities, including the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
in Seattle; and she still takes some students through the low-residency
Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campus j ...
. In 2009, she was awarded the
MacArthur Foundation The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation that makes grants and impact investments to support non-profit organizations in approximately 50 countries around the world. It has an endowment of $7.0 billion and p ...
"
Genius Grant 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 ...
" for her work. and in 2011–2012, she started the non-profit CAREGIFTED ( http://caregifted.org ) to provide respite and tribute to long-term caregivers of the severely disabled and chronically ill. For her work there she received notice from Encore.org's Purpose Prizes.


Biography

McHugh has published eight books of poetry, one collection of critical essays, and four books of translation. She has received numerous awards and critical recognition in all of these areas, including several
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 ...
s, the Griffin Prize in poetry, and many others. Her poems resist contemporary identity politics. She also rejects categorization as a confessional poet, although she studied with
Robert Lowell Robert Traill Spence Lowell IV (; March 1, 1917 – September 12, 1977) was an American poet. He was born into a Boston Brahmin family that could trace its origins back to the ''Mayflower''. His family, past and present, were important subjects i ...
during the time when that described his work. Her primary education included parochial school, where she credits a nun's emphasis on grammar as an early influence. When McHugh was a student at Yorktown High School in
Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...
, a teacher advised McHugh against applying to
Radcliffe Radcliffe or Radcliff may refer to: Places * Radcliffe Line, a border between India and Pakistan United Kingdom * Radcliffe, Greater Manchester ** Radcliffe Tower, the remains of a medieval manor house in the town ** Radcliffe tram stop * ...
, making her determined to get in. She arrived in Cambridge at age 17 and graduated with honors, receiving her B.A. from Harvard in 1970. She was a Fellow at Cummington Community for the Arts in 1970, and entered graduate school at the
University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
in 1971, having already published a poem 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 ...
''. She began teaching there, and received an
Academy of American Poets 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 outreac ...
prize in 1972. After earning her M.A. in 1972, McHugh received
MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire, United States, founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDowell ...
fellowships in 1973, 1974, and 1976. In 1974, she also received her first of three
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
grants in poetry. McHugh was the poet-in-residence at
Stephens College Stephens College is a private women's college in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second-oldest women's educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833, as the Columbia Female Acade ...
in
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
between 1974 and 1976; she worked as an associate professor of English at the State University of New York at Binghamton between 1976 and 1982. At 29, she completed a manuscript of poems titled ''Dangers'' (1976), that was a winner of
Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
Co.'s New Poetry Series Competition, and was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1977. After a
Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March  ...
Colony fellowship in 1980, her second book, titled ''A World of Difference: Poems'' (1981), was published by Houghton Mifflin. McHugh was 33. During this time, she was a visiting professor at
Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campus ...
in the M.F.A. Program for Writers in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
; at
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 ...
in New York between 1980 and 1981; and at the
University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and pr ...
in 1982. During 1987, she was the Holloway Lecturer at the
University of California in Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...
. While the top journals published her poetry, some poems were also anthologized in prestigious collections, and top critics called her observations astute and noteworthy as well as courageous. That same year ''World of Difference'' came out, her first book of translations was published. Her poetry translation of
Jean Follain Jean Follain (29 August 1903 – 10 March 1971) was a French writer, poet and corporate lawyer. In the early days of his career he was a member of the "Sagesse" group.
's French work is titled ''D'après tout: Poems by Jean Follain'' (1981) and was published by Princeton University Press in the Lockhart Poetry in Translation series. In 1984, she became the Milliman Writer-In-Residence at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...
in
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. The residency was initiated that same year, and McHugh filled the position until 2011 when she was appointed Pollock Professor of Creative Writing. During the 1980s, McHugh worked a great deal on translation, partly due to her alliance with her co-translator and husband at that time, who also taught at the University of Washington. Her translation work includes well-known international poets like Follain and
Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...
, as well as
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n Jewish poet of the Holocaust Paul Antschel, who wrote under the pseudonym
Paul Celan Paul Celan (; ; 23 November 1920 – c. 20 April 1970) was a Romanian-born German-language poet and translator. He was born as Paul Antschel to a Jewish family in Cernăuți (German: Czernowitz), in the then Kingdom of Romania (now Chernivtsi, U ...
. This latter translation, entitled ''Glottal Stop: Poems by Paul Celan'', would win the Griffin International Poetry Prize. (See reference below.) Her skill in translating literature by Slavic writers became even more evident with the publication of ''Because the Sea Is Black: Poems of Blaga Dimitrova'' (1989) featuring the work of a
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
n poet and novelist. Dimitrova, one of the best-loved writers in her homeland, became the first democratically elected vice-president of her country after the fall of communism. McHugh translated Dimitrova's poems for ''Wesleyan Poetry in Translation'' (published by the
Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present for ...
) with her husband, Nikolai Popov, a scholar whom she married in 1987. Popov, an expert in Bulgarian and knowledgeable in the German and French languages, also helped to translate Celan's poetry, which was written in German. In 1986, McHugh received a Bellagio grant from the
Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...
. She published two more books of poetry during the 1980s: ''To the Quick'' (1987) and ''Shades'' (1988). In the late '80s, she also participated in an art project with Tom Phillips, resulting in a collectible book ''WHERE ARE THEY NOW?: The Class of Forty-Seven'' (1990). It consists of thirty images by Phillips which are interpreted in poems by McHugh and then further modified by Phillips. One of Phillips's images, "A Humument: A Treated Victorian Novel," from the collaboration is appropriately used on the cover of McHugh's essay collection ''Broken English: Poetry and Partiality'' (1993). In 1994, ''Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968–1993,'' a collection of 24 new poems and selected poems from her five earlier books, was published by the
Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present for ...
. The book won both the Harvard Review/Daniel Pollock Prize in 1995 and Boston Book Review's Bingham Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the
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 ...
. The New York Times Book Review chose this poetry collection as a "Notable Book of the Year." In 1996, after the book's publication, she received a Lila Wallace/Reader's Digest Writing Award. In 1998 McHugh received the
Folger Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare materia ...
's O.B. Hardison Prize for a poet who excels in teaching. In 1999 she was elected a Chancellor of the
Academy of American Poets 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 outreac ...
and received the PEN/Voelker Award. During this year, her poetry was anthologized in The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, alongside poets laureate like
Rita Dove Rita Frances Dove (born August 28, 1952) is an American poet and essayist. From 1993 to 1995, she served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. She is the first African American to have been appointed since the posit ...
and
Robert Pinsky Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet, essayist, literary critic, and translator. From 1997 to 2000, he served as Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Pinsky is the author of nineteen books, most of ...
, and other contemporaries like Charles Wright,
Lucille Clifton Lucille Clifton (June 27, 1936 – February 13, 2010) was an American poet, writer, and educator from Buffalo, New York. From 1979 to 1985 she was Poet Laureate of Maryland. Clifton was a finalist twice for the Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Li ...
, James Tate, Philip Levine, and
Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...
. McHugh also began to serve as a judge for numerous poetry competitions, including the National Poetry Series and the Laughlin Prize. She was a member of the Board of Directors for the Associated Writing Programs between 1981 and 1983. She served on the Literature Panel for the National Endowment for the Arts during 1983 and 1986. In 1991, she was the Coal-Royalty Chair at the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
. In 1992, McHugh was the Elliston Poet at the
University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,00 ...
. In 1991, she was the visiting professor at the
University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...
and, in 1994, at the
University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...
. She takes editing collections of younger poets seriously, and helped to select poems for ''Hammer and Blaze: a Gathering of Contemporary American Poets'' (2001), published by the University of Georgia Press, which she co-edited with Ellen Bryant Voigt. About her job guest editing ''Ploughshares'' in Spring 2001, McHugh writes, "The sheer syntactical elegance of many of these new poems suggests an instrumental refinement for which I'm grateful: I'm an old
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 ...
/
Anthony Hecht Anthony Evan Hecht (January 16, 1923 – October 20, 2004) was an American poet. His work combined a deep interest in form with a passionate desire to confront the horrors of 20th century history, with the Second World War, in which he fought, an ...
fan, and have had reason now and then to regret, during my quarter century of teaching in M.F.A. programs, the relative unfashionability of rhetorical flourish." At the end of 2001, McHugh's sixth collection of poetry, ''The Father of the Predicaments,'' was published by the Wesleyan University Press. That same year, McHugh, with Nikolai Popov, received the first International Griffin Poetry Prize in translation for ''Glottal Stop: 101 Poems by Paul Celan''. Her next poetry collection, ''Eyeshot,'' was published in (2003) by
Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present for ...
, and her latest collection, ''Upgraded to Serious,'' was released in 2009 both by
Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both popu ...
in the US and by Anansi in Canada. McHugh was a judge for the 2012
Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...
.


Awards and honors

* Two grants from the
National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...
*
Griffin Poetry Prize The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. Before 2022, the awards went to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language. ...
* Fellowship from the Guggenheim Foundation * Milliman Distinguished Writer-in-Residence, University of Washington * Finalist for the National Book Award * Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize *
Witter Bynner Fellowship Witter Bynner Fellowships are administered by the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, an organization that provides grant support for poetry programs through nonprofit organizations. Fellows are chosen by t ...
*
PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry The PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry is given biennially to an American poet whose distinguished and growing body of work to date represents a notable and accomplished presence in American literature. The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by ...
* O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize *
MacArthur 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 MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...


Bibliography


Poetry collections

* ''Dangers''. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1977 * ''A World of Difference''. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1981 * ''To the Quick'', Middletown:
Wesleyan University Press Wesleyan University Press is a university press that is part of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The press is currently directed by Suzanna Tamminen, a published poet and essayist. History and overview Founded (in its present for ...
, 1987, * * * * *


Editor

* '' The Best American Poetry 2007'', Guest editor (2007) * ''Ploughshares Spring 2001'', Guest editor (2001)
Michigan Quarterly Review 57: 4
Guest editor (2018)


Essays

* ''Broken English: Poetry and Partiality'', University Press of New England, 1993, ; Wesleyan University Press, 2011,


Translations

* ''D'Apres Tout—Poems by Jean Follain''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981, * ''Because the Sea is Black: Poems by Blaga Dimitrova'', Translators: McHugh and Nikolai Popov, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1989, * *


References


External links


Heather McHugh
at poets.org

at Seattle Arts and Lectures
Heather McHugh
at Ink Node
Griffin Poetry Prize biography

Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip
* Audio of Heather McHugh's lectur
"In Ten Senses: Some Sentences About Art's Senses and Intents
at the
Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities The Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities, located in Seattle, Washington, is one of the largest and most comprehensive humanities centers in the United States. Housed in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington ( ...
December 4, 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:McHugh, Heather Harvard University alumni University of Washington faculty Roberta C. Holloway Lecturer in the Practice of Poetry 1948 births Living people 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Iowa Writers' Workshop faculty MacArthur Fellows Writers from San Diego People from Gloucester County, Virginia American women poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers American women academics American people of Canadian descent Yorktown High School (Virginia) alumni