Gioia, Dana

American poet, literary critic, and translator.

Dana Gioia (1950- ) is an American poet and critic. He was born in Los Angeles, California to Michael and Dorothy Gioia. Gioia received a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1973 and a Master of Arts from Harvard University in 1975. After returning to Stanford University and earning a Master's in Business Administration in 1977, Gioia went on to spend nearly fifteen years in the corporate sector. During this time, Gioia also began his career as a poet, publishing his first volume of poetry, Summer, in 1983. Gioia has since published numerous volumes of poetry and criticism, in addition to editing anthologies and contributing essays and introductions to other literary works. In 1991, Gioia's essay, "Can Poetry Matter?" first appeared in the Atlantic Monthly. The essay was subsequently published in a collection under the same name, and became a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle in 1992. In 2002, Gioia won the American Book Award for Interrogations at Noon, his third collection of poems. Since February of 2003 Gioia has served as the Chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts.

Epithet: poet

Biography

Dana Gioia (b. December 24, 1950) is a poet, literary critic, and translator. He was born in Hawthorne, California, the first of his parents' (Michael Gioia and Dorothy Ortiz Gioia) four children. He received his bachelor's degree in English in 1973 from Stanford University. During his undergraduate years, he wrote for and eventually edited Sequoia, the campus literary magazine. After Stanford he earned his masters' degree in English from Harvard University. There, Robert Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Bishop were among his professors. Dissatisfied by the prospect of a career in academia, Gioia left Harvard for Stanford's Business School before he finished his Ph.D. Gioia, then, worked for General Foods from 1977 until 1992 rising to Vice President, all the while continuing to write. Since 1992, he has devoted full time to his literary career. Sometimes referred to as a "New Formalist," Gioia searches in his writing for his own form, assimilating both traditional and free verse forms. Among his collections of poetry are Daily Horoscope (1986), The Gods of Winter (1991), and Planting a Sequoia (1991). He has also published many reviews, essays, and a collection of translations of Eugenia Montale's Italian poems. Gioia's support of and interest in small presses add to his literary reputation and to his visibility as a young poet. He writes frequently for The Hudson Review. He is the President of the Board of Directors of the Story Line Press (successor of The Reaper, Inc. which published the poetry magazine, The Reaper). Gioia also joined the Board of Directors of the Wesleyan University Writers Conference in 1985.

This biography compiled with reference to the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Volume 120. Edited by R. S. Gwynn. 84-90.