William Stafford (poet)

William Edgar Stafford ( born January 17, 1914 in Hutchinson, Kansas; † August 28, 1993 in Lake Oswego, Oregon ) was an American poet and pacifist, and the father of poet and essayist Kim Stafford. He was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry 20th to the Library of Congress in 1970.

Biography

Stafford was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, the eldest an educated family with four children. During his depression his family moved from city to city, so Stafford could find a job in order to finance the livelihood of numerous works such as newspaper delivery, field work or with his electrician's apprenticeship can.

In 1993 he graduated from high school in Liberal, Kansas. After attending junior college in 1937, he received a BA from the University of Kansas. In 1941 he was drafted into the U.S. Army, but because of his master's degree at the University of Kansas, he completed instead of the military - civilian service.

Career

The most striking features of his career was that he published his poetry until later in life. The first major collection of poems, Traveling Through the Dark, he had published only at the age of 48 years. The poem was one of the most famous works of Stafford. The poem describes the encounter with a freshly killed deer on a mountain road. Before the removal of the supposed corpse, he noticed that the doe was pregnant and the fawn was still alive. The following year he won the 1963 National Book Award.

He received a journal of his own, by for 50 years presented his works to the public. He composed some 22,000 poems which were published around 3000. In 1992, he won the Western States Book Award for Lifetime Achievement in Poetry.

On August 28, 1993 Stafford died of a heart attack in Lake Oswego.

Bibliography

West of Your City, Talisman Press, 1960.
Traveling through the Dark, Harper, 1962.
The Rescued Year, Harper, 1965.
Eleven Untitled Poems, Perishable Press, 1968.
Weather: Poems, Perishable Press, 1969.
Allegiances, Harper, 1970.
Temporary Facts, Duane Schneider Press, 1970.
Poems for Tennessee, (With Robert Bly and William Matthews) Poetry Tennessee Press, 1971.
Add the Clock of Reason, Soft Press, 1973.
Someday, Maybe, Harper, 1973.
That Other Alone, Perishable Press, 1973.
Going Places: Poems, West Coast Poetry Review, 1974.
The Earth, Graywolf Press, 1974.
North by West, (With John Meade Haines ) edited by Karen Sollid and John Sollid, Spring Rain Press, 1975.
Braided Apart ( With son, Kim Robert Stafford), Confluence, 1976.
I Would Also Like to Mention Aluminum: Poems and a Conversation, Slow Loris Press, 1976.
Late, Passing Prairie Farm: A Poem, Main Street Inc., 1976.
The Design on the Oriole, Night Heron Press, 1977.
Stories That Could Be True: New and Collected Poems, Harper, 1977.
The Design on the Oriole, Night Heron Press, 1977.
Smoke's Way ( chapbook ), Graywolf Press, 1978.
All about Light, Croissant, 1978.
A Meeting with Disma Tumminello and William Stafford, edited by Nat Scammacca, Cross-Cultural Communications, 1978.
Passing a Creche, Sea Pen Press, 1978.
Tuft by Puff, Perishable Press, 1978.
Two about Music, Sceptre Press, 1978.
Tuned in Late One Night, The Deerfield Press, 1978, The Gallery Press, 1978.
The Quiet of the Land, Nadja Press, 1979.
Around You, Your Horse & A Catechism, Sceptre Press, 1979.
Absolution, Martin Booth, 1980.
Things That Happen When There Are not Any People, BOA Editions, 1980.
Passwords, Sea Pen Press, 1980.
Wyoming Circuit, Tideline Press, 1980.
Sometimes Like a Legend: Puget Sound Country, Copper Canyon Press, 1981.
A Glass Face in the Rain: New Poems, Harper, 1982.
Roving across Fields: A Conversation and Uncollected Poems 1942-1982, edited by Thom Tammaro, Barnwood, 1983.
Smoke's Way: Poems, Graywolf, 1983.
Segue: A Correspondence in Poetry, (With Marvin Bell) David Godine, 1983.
Listening Deep: Poems ( chapbook ), Penmaen Press, 1984.
Stories and Storms and Strangers, Honeybrook Press, 1984.
Wyoming, Ampersand Press, Roger Williams College, 1985.
Brother Wind, Honey Brook Press, 1986.
An Oregon Message, Harper 1987.
You and Some Other Characters, Honey Brook Press, 1987.
Annie -over, (With Marvin Bell ) Honey Brook Press, 1988.
Writing the World, Alembic Press, 1988.
A Scripture of Leaves, Brethren Press, 1989.
Kansas Poems of William Stafford, edited by Denise Low, Woodley Press, 1990.
How to Hold Your Arms When It Rains, Confluence Press, 1991.
Passwords, HarperPerennial, 1991.
The Long Sigh the Wind Makes, Adrienne Lee Press, 1991.
History is Loose Again, Honey Brook Press, 1991.
The Animal That Drank Up Sound (a children's book, illustrated by Debra Frasier ), Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1992.
Seeking the Way ( with illuminations by Robert Johnson), Melia Press, 1992.
My Name is William Tell, Confluence Press, 1992.
Holding Onto the Grass, Honey Brook Press, 1992, reprinted, Weatherlight Press, 1994.
Who Are You Really hikers? , Honey Brook Press, 1993.
Learning to Live in the World: Earth Poems by William Stafford, Harcourt, Brace, & Company, 1994.
The Methow River Poems, Confluence Press, 1995.
Even In Quiet Places, Confluence Press, 1996.
The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems, introduction by Naomi Shihab Nye, Graywolf Press, 1998.

Down in My Heart ( memoir ). In 1947. Reprint. Elgin, Ill.: Brethren Publishing House; Columbia, S. C.: Bench Press, 1985.
Winter Ward. Ph.D., diss. University of Iowa, 1954.
Writing the Australian Crawl. Views on the Writer 's Vocation ( essays and reviews ). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1978.
You Must Revise Your Life ( essays and interviews). Ann Arbor. University of Michigan Press, 1986.
The Animal That Drank Up Sound ( children's book, with illustrations by Debra Frasier ). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1992.

Poems by Ghalib. New York: Hudson Review, 1969 First Edition in wrappers. . Translated by Stafford, Adrienne Rich and Ajiz Ahmad.

Hutchinson (Kansas) Integrated Authority File

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