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Howard Nemerov: A Distinguished Man of Letters in America

© Thadine Franciszkiewicz

This is the third article of the Poet Laureates of the United States series. William Penn and Richard Wilbur both blazed trails of literary style. The writer chosen as the third Poet Laureate of the United States was Howard Nemerov, who has been considered one of America’s most distinguished men of letters.

He is not only a poet. He is a critic, short story writer and novelist. One major book of his collections is entitled A Howard Nemerov Reader. The author reigned as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1988 to 1990. He, too, blazed a trail of unique literary style.

As noted by The Nation, "Nemerov's contribution to our literature--as a gifted writer of fiction and critical prose, but pre-eminently as a poet-- does not seem to me to have received as much celebrity as it deserves. . . . Nemerov's virtues are all in fact unfashionable ones for our time: vivid intelligence, an irreverent sense of humor, a mastery of formal verse, an awareness of mystery." http://www.system.missouri.edu/upress/ot...

It has been noted by the poet himself that he describes his own poetry as subversive. He approaches his subjects with the attitude of taking his readers by surprise. In other words, he likes to disturb the conventional ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching.

He appreciates the free and lively movements life offers and this is reflected in his poetry. He also believes that his poetry is an art of combining or relating things that differ from one another. The poet tracks down the truth which includes incorporating the tone of voice.

Similar to Richard Wilbur, Howard Nemerov was born in New York in the year 1920. Unlike Wilbur, he grew up in the city until he attended Harvard in 1937. He earned a B.A. in 1941 and following the summer of his graduation, he enlisted in the Canadian Air Force where he became a pilot. For the last two years of the war he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. He returned to New York and married. One year later he began teaching at different college campuses. In 1978 he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book entitled Collected Poems. Although his primary goal was to write, he enjoyed teaching because he believed he was the one who earned a fair income, lived a quiet life, and received an education to boot.

More information about Howard Nermov can be found at http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/090...

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