W. S. Merwin

American poet (1927–2019)

William Stanley Merwin (September 30, 1927 – March 15, 2019) was an American poet.[1] He was mainly active during the anti-Vietnam War era. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (in both 1971 and 2009), the National Book Award for Poetry (2005)[2] and the Tanning Prize, one of the highest honors bestowed by the Academy of American Poets, as well as the Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings.

W. S. Merwin
Born(1927-09-30)September 30, 1927
New York City
DiedMarch 15, 2019(2019-03-15) (aged 91)
Haiku, Hawaii
OccupationPoet
NationalityAmerican
EducationWyoming Seminary, Kingston, PA 1944; Princeton University (attended)
Period1952–2019
GenrePoetry, prose, translation
Notable awardsPEN Translation Prize
1969
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
1971, 2009
Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry
1990
Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
1994
Tanning Prize
1994
National Book Award
2005
United States Poet Laureate
2010
Zbigniew Herbert International Literary Award
2013
SpouseDorothy Jeanne Ferry
Dido Milroy
Paula Dunaway (1983–2017)

In 2010, the Library of Congress named Merwin the seventeenth United States Poet Laureate to replace the outgoing Kay Ryan.[3][4]

Merwin died at his home in Haiku, Hawaii on March 15, 2019 from a heart attack, aged 91.[5]

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References

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  1. "Amazon.com Official Profile". Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  2. "2005 National Book Awards Winners and Finalists, The National Book Foundation". Nationalbook.org. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  3. Kennicott, Philip (July 1, 2010). "W.S. Merwin, Hawaii-based poet, will serve as 17th U.S. laureate". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 1, 2010.
  4. Cohen, Patricia (June 30, 2010). "W. S. Merwin to Be Named Poet Laureate". The New York Times. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  5. "W.S. Merwin, prize-winning poet of nature, dies at 91". Archived from the original on 2020-04-14. Retrieved 2019-03-15.