Davie, Donald

Donald Davie, a poet, literary critic, and teacher, was born in Barnsley in Yorkshire, England on 17 July 1922. His service in the Royal Navy during World War II, which sent him to Russia, sparked an interest in Russian literature; he later wrote his doctoral dissertation and other works on that subject, including Slavic Excursions: Essays on Russian and Polish Literature . Davie married Doreen John in 1945; they later had three children. He received his bachelor's degree in 1947 and his doctoral degree in 1951, both from the University of Cambridge. His teaching career began at Trinity College, Dublin, in 1950. He went on to teach at the University of Cambridge from 1958 to 1964, and at the University of Essex from 1964 to 1968. That year, Davie left England for the United States, where he taught at Stanford University for ten years. He then taught at Vanderbilt University until 1988, when he retired and returned to England. Davie's work includes poetry collections, such as Brides of Reason, Essex Poems, 1963-67, and To Scorch or Freeze, as well as literary criticism, such as Purity of Diction in English Verse and Ezra Pound: Poet as Sculptor . Davie died on 18 September 1995 in Exeter in Devon, England.

From the guide to the Donald Davie papers, 1926-1995, 1970-1990, (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

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