Henri Cole
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Henri Cole (born 1956) is an American poet born in Fukuoka, Japan and raised in Virginia, United States. From 1982 until 1988 he was executive director of The Academy of American Poets. Since that time he has held many teaching positions and been the artist-in-residence at various institutions, including Brandeis University, Columbia University, Davidson College, Harvard University, Reed College, Smith College, and his alma mater, The College of William and Mary.
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[edit] Analysis of work
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Cole's work is autobiographical, without being sentimental or trivial; his is a poetry of sensibility, exploring the contingencies of selfhood embodied, loss and exchange with a striking clarity of vision and purity of diction. As Cole explains it, poems are written in the language of the unconscious and of our dreams. Much of his work takes a simple observation and then uses it to speak about the human condition, philosophy, or life. His ideas are at times abstract and psychological. Cole's attentiveness both to suffering and delight is original and profound. Recurring symbols of alienation, fine art, and classical representations of gender help elevate Cole among his contemporaries.
[edit] Books of poetry
- 2007: Blackbird and Wolf, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 2005: Vingt-Deux Poèmes, Paris: Yvon Lambert
- 2003: Middle Earth, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 1998: The Visible Man
- 1995: The Look of Things
- 1989: The Zoo Wheel of Knowledge
- 1986: The Marble Queen
[edit] Awards and honors
- 2007 — United States Artists USA Hildreth/Williams Fellow, Literature
- 2004 — Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for Middle Earth
- 2004 — John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- 2004 — Award in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 2004 — Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Middle Earth
- 2004 — Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry for Middle Earth
- 2001 — Japan-US Friendship Commission, Creative Artist Fellowship
- 2000 — Berlin Prize, American Academy in Berlin
- 1995 — Rome Prize in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 1993 — National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
- 1989 — Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship
