Richard Joseph Howard (October 13, 1929 – March 31, 2022; adopted as Richard Joseph Orwitz) was an American poet,
literary critic, essayist, teacher, and translator. He was born in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
, Ohio, and was a graduate of
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 ...
, where he studied under
Mark Van Doren
Mark Van Doren (June 13, 1894 – December 10, 1972) was an American poet, writer and critic. He was a scholar and a professor of English at Columbia University for nearly 40 years, where he inspired a generation of influential writers and thin ...
,
["Mark Van Doren", ''Columbia 250'' – Colombian Ahead of Their Times]
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 ...
. and where he was an emeritus professor. He lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Life
After reading French letters at the
Sorbonne
Sorbonne may refer to:
* Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities.
*the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970)
*one of its components or linked institution, ...
in 1952–53, Howard had a brief early career as a
lexicographer
Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.
* Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
* Theoreti ...
. He soon turned his attention to poetry and poetic criticism, and won the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for poetry for his 1969 collection ''
Untitled Subjects'', which took for its subject dramatic imagined letters and monologues of 19th century historical figures. For much of his career, Howard composed poems employing a
quantitative verse
In poetry, metre ( Commonwealth spelling) or meter (American spelling; see spelling differences) is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of ...
technique.
A prolific literary critic, Howard's monumental 1969 volume ''
Alone With America'' stretches to 594 pages
[Howard, Richard. ''Alone With America: Essays on the Art of Poetry in the United States Since 1950''. New York: Atheneum, 1969.] and profiles 41 American poets who had published at least two books each and "have come into a characteristic and—as I see it—consequential identity since the time, say, of the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
." Howard would later tell an interviewer
I wrote the book not for the sense of history, but for myself, knowing that a relation to one's moment was essential to getting beyond the moment. As I quoted Shaw in the book's preface, if you cannot believe in the greatness of your own age and inheritance, you will fall into confusion of mind and contrariety of spirit. The book was a rescuing anatomy of such belief, the construction of a ''credendum''—articles of faith, or at least appreciation.[Richard Howard, The Art of Poetry No. 86]
''The Paris Review'', interview by J. D. McClatchy
J. D. "Sandy" McClatchy (August 12, 1945 – April 10, 2018) was an American poet, opera librettist and literary critic. He was editor of the ''Yale Review'' and president of The American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Life
McClatchy was born ...
, Spring 2004
He was awarded the
PEN Translation Prize
The PEN Translation Prize (formerly known as the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize through 2008) is an annual award given by PEN America (formerly PEN American Center) to outstanding translations into the English language. It has been p ...
in 1976 for his translation of
E. M. Cioran's ''
A Short History of Decay'' and 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 ...
["National Book Awards – 1983"]
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 2012-03-10.
There was a "Translation" award from 1966 to 1983.
for his 1983 translation of
Baudelaire's ''
Les Fleurs du mal
''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire.
''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...
''. Howard was a long-time poetry editor of ''
The Paris Review
''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published works by Jack Kerouac, Phil ...
''. He received a
Pulitzer prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
, the
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 headq ...
Literary Award and a
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 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...
. In 1985, Howard received the
PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation The PEN/Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation, named in honor of U.S. translator Ralph Manheim, is a literary award given every three years by PEN America (the U.S. chapter of International PEN) to a translator "whose career has demonstrated a comm ...
. A past 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 outreach ...
, he was Professor of Practice in the writing program at Columbia's
School of the Arts. He was previously
University Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professor ...
of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
at the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...
and, before that, Ropes Professor of
Comparative Literature
Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...
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 44,0 ...
. He served as
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch ...
of the
State of New York
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...
from 1993 to 1995.
In 1982, Howard was named a
Chevalier
Chevalier may refer to:
Honours Belgium
* a rank in the Belgian Order of the Crown
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold
* a rank in the Belgian Order of Leopold II
* a title in the Belgian nobility
France
* a rank in the French Legion d'h ...
of
L'Ordre National du Mérite by the government of France.
In 2016, he received the
Philolexian Society
The Philolexian Society of Columbia University is one of the oldest college literary and debate societies in the United States, and the oldest student group at Columbia. Founded in 1802, the Society aims to "improve its members in Oratory, Compo ...
Award for Distinguished Literary Achievement.
Howard died in New York City on March 31, 2022, from complications of dementia.
Personal life
Richard Howard was born to poor
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
parents. His last name at birth is unknown. He was adopted as an infant by Emma Joseph and Harry Orwitz, a middle-class Cleveland couple, who were also Jewish; his mother changed their last names to "Howard" when he was an infant, after she divorced Orwitz. Howard never met his birth parents, nor his sister, who was adopted by another local family.
["Praising Sacred Places: Richard Howard's Jewish Roots"]
article by Benjamin Ivry in ''The Forward''. Howard was gay, a fact that comes up frequently in his later work.
Official biography at Cleveland Arts Prize website
/ref> He was out to some degree since at least the 1960s, when he remarked to friend W. H. Auden
Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...
that he was offended by a fellow poet's use of Jewish and gay epithets, "since e was
E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plu ...
both these things", to which Auden replied, "My dear, I never knew you were Jewish!"
Howard kept on his bed in a nook of his New York City apartment a large stuffed gorilla named "Mildred".
Works
Poetry
* ''Quantities'' (1962)
* ''Damages'' (1967)
* ''Untitled Subjects'' (1969)
* ''Findings'' (1971)
* ''Two-Part Inventions'' (1974)
* ''Fellow Feelings'' (1976)
* ''Misgivings'' (1979)
* ''Lining Up'' (1984)
* ''No Traveller'' (1989)
* ''Selected Poems'' (1991)
* ''Like Most Revelations'' (1994)
* ''Trappings'' (1999)
* ''Talking Cures'' (2002)
* ''Fallacies of Wonder'' (2003)
* ''Inner Voices'' (selected poems), 2004
* ''The Silent Treatment'' (2005)
* ''Without Saying'' (2008)
* ''A Progressive Education'' (2014)
Critical essays
* ''Alone With America: Essays on the Art of Poetry in the United States Since 1950'' (1969)
* ''Preferences: 51 American Poets Choose Poems From Their Own Work and From the Past'' (1974)
* ''Travel Writing of Henry James'' (essay) (1994)
* ''Paper Trail: Selected Prose 1965–2003'' (2004)
Major translations (French to English)
* ''The Traitor'' by André Gorz
* ''Les Fleurs du mal
''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire.
''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...
'' by Charles Baudelaire
Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticism inherited ...
* ''Camera Lucida
A ''camera lucida'' is an optical device used as a drawing aid by artists and microscopists.
The ''camera lucida'' performs an optical superimposition of the subject being viewed upon the surface upon which the artist is drawing. The artist s ...
'' by Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popula ...
and other works, such as ''Mythologies
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
'' and ''Mourning Diary''
*''Force of Circumstance'' by Simone de Beauvoir
* '' Nadja'' by André Breton
*''Mobile'' by Michel Butor
Michel Butor (; 14 September 1926 – 24 August 2016) was a French poet, novelist, teacher, essayist, art critic and translator.
Life and work
Michel Marie François Butor was born in Mons-en-Barœul, a suburb of Lille, the third of seven childre ...
and other works
* '' A Happy Death'' by Albert Camus
Albert Camus ( , ; ; 7 November 1913 – 4 January 1960) was a French philosopher, author, dramatist, and journalist. He was awarded the 1957 Nobel Prize in Literature at the age of 44, the second-youngest recipient in history. His work ...
* '' The Trouble with Being Born'' by Emil Cioran
Emil Mihai Cioran (, ; 8 April 1911 – 20 June 1995) was a Romanian philosopher, aphorist and essayist, who published works in both Romanian and French. His work has been noted for its pervasive philosophical pessimism, style, and aphorisms. ...
and other works
*'' Proust and Signs'' by Gilles Deleuze
*'' William Marshal: The Flower of Chivalry'' by Georges Duby
Georges Duby (7 October 1919 – 3 December 1996) was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of Franc ...
* ''Madness and Civilization
''Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason'' (French: ''Folie et Déraison: Histoire de la folie à l'âge classique'', 1961) is an examination by Michel Foucault of the evolution of the meaning of madness in the cultur ...
'' by Michel Foucault and other works
* ''The War Memoirs'' (''Unity'' and ''Salvation'') by Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (; ; (commonly abbreviated as CDG) 22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French army officer and statesman who led Free France against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government ...
* ''The Immoralist
''The Immoralist'' (french: L'Immoraliste) is a novel by André Gide, published in France in 1902.
Plot
''The Immoralist'' is a recollection of events that Michel narrates to his three visiting friends. One of those friends solicits job search ...
'' by André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1947). Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism ...
and other works
* ''Lying Woman'' by Jean Giraudoux
Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II.
His wo ...
* ''The Opposing Shore
''The Opposing Shore'' (french: Le Rivage des Syrtes) is a 1951 novel by the French writer Julien Gracq. The story is set at the border between two fictional Mediterranean countries, Orsenna and Farghestan, which have been at war for 300 years. It ...
'' by Julien Gracq
Julien Gracq (; 27 July 1910 – 22 December 2007; born Louis Poirier in Saint-Florent-le-Vieil, in the French ''département'' of Maine-et-Loire) was a French writer. He wrote novels, critiques, a play, and poetry. His literary works were no ...
and other works
* '' Nedjma'' by Kateb Yacine
Kateb Yacine (; 2 August 1929 or 6 August 1929 – 28 October 1989) was an Algerian writer notable for his novels and plays, both in French and Algerian Arabic, and his advocacy of the Berber cause.
Biography
Kateb Yacine was officially bo ...
* ''Hothouses
''Hothouses'' (or ''Hot House Blooms'', french: Serres chaudes) (1889) is a book of symbolist poetry by the Belgian Nobel laureate Maurice Maeterlinck. Most of the poems in this collection are written in octosyllabic verse, but some are in fre ...
'' by Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count (or Comte) Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in ...
* ''The Stars'' by Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin (; ; born Edgar Nahoum; 8 July 1921) is a French philosopher and sociologist of the theory of information who has been recognized for his work on complexity and "complex thought" ( pensée complexe), and for his scholarly contributio ...
* ''The History of Surrealism'' by Maurice Nadeau
* ''Jealousy
Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety.
Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgus ...
'' by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet (; 18 August 1922 – 18 February 2008) was a French writer and filmmaker. He was one of the figures most associated with the '' Nouveau Roman'' (new novel) trend of the 1960s, along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and ...
and other works
*''Cupid’s Executioners'' by Hubert Monteilhet
Hubert Monteilhet (July 10, 1928 - May 12, 2019) was a French writer of crime and historical fiction. His best-known novels are '' The Praying Mantises'' and ''Return from the Ashes'' which have been adapted into TV and motion pictures. His work ...
and other works
* ''La Guerre en Algérie'' by Jules Roy
Jules Roy (22 October 1907 – 15 June 2000) was a French writer. "Prolific and polemical" Roy, born an Algerian pied noir and sent to a Roman Catholic seminary, used his experiences in the French colony and during his service in the Royal Air For ...
* ''The Little Prince
''The Little Prince'' (french: Le Petit Prince, ) is a novella by French aristocrat, writer, and military pilot Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 an ...
'' by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
* ''Nausea
Nausea is a diffuse sensation of unease and discomfort, sometimes perceived as an urge to vomit. While not painful, it can be a debilitating symptom if prolonged and has been described as placing discomfort on the chest, abdomen, or back of the ...
'' by Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...
* ''The Flanders Road'' by Claude Simon
Claude Simon (; 10 October 1913 – 6 July 2005) was a French novelist, and was awarded the 1985 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Biography
Claude Simon was born in Tananarive on the isle of Madagascar. His parents were French, his father being a ...
and other works
* ''The Charterhouse of Parma
''The Charterhouse of Parma'' (french: La Chartreuse de Parme, links=no) is a novel by Stendhal published in 1839. Telling the story of an Italian nobleman in the Napoleonic era and later, it was admired by Balzac, Tolstoy, André Gide, di Lam ...
'' by Stendhal
* ''Paris in the Twentieth Century
''Paris in the Twentieth Century'' (french: Paris au XXe siècle) is a science fiction novel by Jules Verne. The book presents Paris in August 1960, 97 years in Verne's future, when society places value only on business and technology.
Written i ...
'' by Jules Verne
References
External links
Richard Howard's biography in poets.org
*
The poem "Only Different" at ''Guernica''
The poem "Richard, What's That Noise?" at The Poetry Foundation
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Richard
1929 births
2022 deaths
American male poets
Jewish American poets
Poets Laureate of New York (state)
American LGBT poets
American gay writers
American literary critics
American lexicographers
French–English translators
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners
National Book Award winners
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Poetry winners
MacArthur Fellows
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite
Columbia University faculty
University of Houston faculty
Columbia College (New York) alumni
University of Paris alumni
LGBT Jews
LGBT people from Ohio
20th-century American poets
21st-century American poets
American adoptees
Writers from Cleveland
Poets from Ohio
20th-century translators
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
American male non-fiction writers
21st-century American Jews