Title: Richard Wilbur Collection (VMF190), 1964-1985
Administrative/Biographical History
Richard Purdy Wilbur (March 1, 1921 - ) is an American poet and literary translator. Wilbur was born in New York City and grew up in North Caldwell, New Jersey. He graduated from Montclair High School in 1938, having worked on the school newspaper as a student. He graduated from Amherst College in 1942 and then served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945 during World War II. After the Army and graduate school at Harvard University, Wilbur taught at Wesleyan University for two decades and at Smith College for another decade. At Wesleyan, he was instrumental in founding the award-winning poetry series of the University Press. He teaches at Amherst College and is also on the editorial board of the literary magazine The Common, based at Amherst College.
Wilbur published his first poem in John Martin's Magazine at eight years old. His first book, The Beautiful Changes and Other Poems, appeared in 1947. Continuing the tradition of Robert Frost and W. H. Auden, Wilbur's poetry finds illumination in everyday experiences. He has published several volumes of poetry, including Things of This World (1956) for which he won both the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award and New and Collected Poems (1989) for which he won a second Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Wilbur is also a translator, specializing in the 17th century French comedies of Molière and the dramas of Jean Racine. His translation of Tartuffe has become the standard English version of the play. Less well-known is Wilbur's foray into lyric writing. He provided lyrics to several songs in Leonard Bernstein's 1956 musical, Candide, including the famous "Glitter and Be Gay" and "Make Our Garden Grow." He has also produced several unpublished works such as "The Wing" and "To Beatrice."
In 1987, Wilbur became the second poet, after Robert Penn Warren, to be named U.S. Poet Laureate after the position's title was changed from Poetry Consultant.
