Kizer, Carolyn

Poet Carolyn Kizer has also worked as an educator, translator, critic, and editor. Born and educated in the Pacific Northwest, her career has taken her across the country and around the world. A poet's poet, she has never been prolific, but her poems are admired for their precision and quality. She was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1985.

Poet; Kizer has taught poetry, literature and translation courses in universities throughout the country, been poet-in-residence at the University of North Carolina and Ohio University, and been a participant in international poetry festivals in London, Yugoslavia, Pakistan, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Ireland and Scotland. Her publications include nearly a dozen books of poetry and contributions to many anthologies and periodicals. She has translated Urdu, Chinese and Japanese poetry and edited collections of other poets. She is a four-time winner of the Governor's Prize from the state of Washington for 1965, 1985, 1995 and 1998. Honors also include the Masefield Prize from the Poetry Society of America in 1983, the Theodore Roethke prize in 1988, several honorary doctorates, and in 1985 the Pulitzer Prize for her book Yin: New Poems.