Russell Edson (1935 – April 29, 2014) was 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 ...

, novelist, writer, and illustrator. He was the son of the cartoonist-screenwriter

Gus Edson Gus Edson (September 20, 1901 - September 26, 1966) was an American cartoonist known for two popular, long running comic strips, ''The Gumps'' and ''Dondi''. Born to Max and Emma Edson in Cincinnati, Ohio, Gus Edson dropped out of school at age ...

. He studied art early in life and attended the Art Students League as a teenager. He began publishing poetry in the 1950s. His honors as a poet include a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, a

Whiting Award The Whiting Award is an American award presented annually to ten emerging writers in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and plays. The award is sponsored by the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation Mrs. (American English) or Mrs (British English; standard E ...

, and several fellowships 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 ...

Books

Edson was born in 1935 in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

. His father was the cartoonist-screenwriter

. Early on, Edson self-published several chapbooks and later, numerous collections of

prose poetry Prose poetry is poetry written in prose form instead of verse form, while preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery, parataxis, and emotional effects. Characteristics Prose poetry is written as prose, without the line breaks associ ...

, fables, two

novels A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

, ''Gulping's Recital'' and ''The Song of Percival Peacock'', and a book of plays under the title, ''The Falling Sickness''. His final book was ''See Jack'' (

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

, 2009). He lived in Darien, Connecticut with his wife Frances.

Selected bibliography

Full-length prose poetry collections * ''See Jack'' (

, 2009) * ''The Rooster's Wife: Poems'' ( BOA Editions, Ltd., 2005) * ''The Tormented Mirror'' (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001) * ''The Tunnel: Selected Poems of Russell Edson'' (Oberlin College Press, 1994) * ''The Wounded Breakfast'' (

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 ...

, 1985) * ''With Sincerest Regrets'' (Burning Deck Press, 1980) * ''The Reason Why the Closet-Man Is Never Sad'' (

, 1977) * ''Edson's Mentality'' (OINK! Press, 1977) * ''The Intuitive Journey and Other Works'' (

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1976) * ''Gulping's Recital'' (Guignol Books, 1984) * ''The Clam Theater'' (Wesleyan University Press, 1973) * ''The Childhood Of An Equestrian'' (Harper & Row, 1973) * ''Ceremonies in Bachelor Space'' (Grapnel Press,

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a private liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The college was ideologically organized around John Dewey's educational ...

, 1951) Chapbooks * ''Wuck Wuck Wuck!'' (with linocut by Richard Mock, Red Ozier Press, 1984) Novels * ''Gulping's Recital'' ( Guignol Books, 1984) * ''The Song of Percival Peacock: A Novel'' (

Coffee House Press Coffee House Press is a nonprofit independent press based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The press’s goal is to "produce books that celebrate imagination, innovation in the craft of writing, and the many authentic voices of the American experience ...

, 1992) Short Stories & Fables * ''Tick Tock: Short Stories'' (illustrated with woodcuts, Demitasse/Coffee House Press, 1992) * ''What a Man Can See: Fables'' (with drawings by Ray Johnson, 1969) * ''The Brain Kitchen: Writings and Woodcuts'' (Thing Press, 1965) * ''The Very Thing That Happens: Fables and Drawings'' (New Directions Publishing, 1964) * ''Appearances: Fables and Drawings'' (Thing Press, 1961) * ''A Stone Is Nobody's: Fables and Drawings'' (Thing Press, 1961) Plays * ''The Falling Sickness: A Book of Plays'' (

New Directions Publishing New Directions Publishing Corp. is an independent book publishing company that was founded in 1936 by James Laughlin and incorporated in 1964. Its offices are located at 80 Eighth Avenue in New York City. History New Directions was born in 193 ...

, 1975) Music * ''Ketchup'' opera in 2 acts. Text By Russell Edson, music by Franklin Stover. Scored for 2 voices & chamber orchestra. * ''The Song of Percival Peacock'' - an entertainment for reed quintet and narrator set to prose poems of Russell Edson, by Franklin Stover. (Edition Hohenstaufen, 2017)

Honors and awards

* 1992 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing FellowshipNational Endowment for the Arts > Forty Years of Supporting American Writers > Literature Fellowships
* 1989

* 1981 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship * 1976 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship * 1974 Guggenheim Fellowship

References

External links

Audio: Garrison Keillor's ''The Writer's Almanac": Poems by Russell Edson

Profile at The Whiting Foundation

''The Believer'' (March 2004) ''Why The Reader of Good Prose Poems Is Never Sad: An Appreciation of Russell Edson'' by Sarah Manguso

Poems: ''Webdelsol'' > Featured Prose Poet: Russell Edson

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edson, Russell 1935 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American novelists National Endowment for the Arts Fellows People from Darien, Connecticut Novelists from Connecticut 20th-century American poets American male novelists American male poets 20th-century American male writers Black Mountain College alumni