James Longenbach (Sept. 17, 1959 – July 29, 2022) was an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
critic
A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...
and
poet. His early critical work focused on
modernist poetry, namely that of
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...
,
W.B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
, and
Wallace Stevens, but came to include contemporary poetry as well. His book of criticism, ''The Resistance to Poetry'', has been described as a "compact and exponentially provocative book."
review of ''The Resistance to Poetry''
at the journal '' Poetry''. Accessed 3 July 2006. Longenbach published six volumes of poetry including ''Earthling'' (2017), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Career
Longenbach received his bachelor's degree in 1981 from Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut and subsequently received his Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Longenbach was Joseph Henry Gilmore Professor of English at the University of Rochester and taught at the University from 1985 until his death in 2022. His poems also appeared in many magazines and journals, including '' The New Yorker'', '' The New Republic'', '' The Nation'', and ''The Yale Review
''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press.
It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on hi ...
'', as well as ''The Best American Poetry 1995
''The Best American Poetry 1995'', a volume in ''The Best American Poetry series'', was edited by David Lehman and by guest editor Richard Howard.
For this edition of the series, Howard announced that "poets whose work has appeared three or more t ...
'' anthology. Longenbach frequently reviewed books for '' Boston Review'', '' The Nation'', and the ''Los Angeles Times Book Review
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 Un ...
''.
Personal life
Longenbach was married to novelist Joanna Scott (and fellow Trinity graduate) whom he met in Rome, Italy
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (Romulus and Remus, legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
...
in 1981.Stonington, Connecticut
The town of Stonington is located in New London County, Connecticut in the state's southeastern corner. It includes the borough of Stonington (borough), Connecticut, Stonington, the villages of Pawcatuck, Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Lords Point, and W ...
. He was survived by his wife and their two daughters.
Selected bibliography
Prose
* ''Modernist Poetics of History: Pound, Eliot, and the Sense of the Past'' (1987)
* ''Stone Cottage: Pound, Yeats & Modernism'' (1988; Oxford University Press)
* ''Ezra Pound’s Poetry and Prose: Contributions to Periodicals in Ten Volumes'' (1991) (co-editor)
* ''Wallace Stevens: The Plain Sense of Things'' (1991; Oxford University Press)
* ''Modern Poetry After Modernism'' (1997; Oxford University Press)
* ''The Resistance to Poetry'' (2005; University of Chicago Press)
* ''The Art of the Poetic Line'' (Dec. 2007; Graywolf Press)
* ''How Poems Get Made'' (2018; W.W. Norton & Company)
* ''The Lyric Now'' (2020; University of Chicago Press)
Poetry
* ''Threshold: Poems'' (1998; University of Chicago Press)
* ''Fleet River: Poems'' (2003; University of Chicago Press)
* ''Draft of a Letter: Poems'' (Apr. 2007; University of Chicago Press)
* ''the iron key: poems'' (2012; W.W. Norton & Company)
* ''earthling: poems'' (2017; W.W. Norton & Company)
* ''forever: poems'' (2021; W.W. Norton & Company)
References
External links
Official Website of James Longenbach
Longenbach in conversation with Jesse Lichtenstein
at '' Loggernaut''.
Longenbach in conversation with Louise Glück
for the Lannan Foundation.
Fairchild Award presented to James Longenbach
from University of Rochester public relations, October 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longenbach, James
American literary critics
American male poets
University of Rochester faculty
Writers from Rochester, New York
Living people
Journalists from New York (state)
American male non-fiction writers
1959 births