Ciardi, John, 1916-1986

American poet and critic. Winner of Avery and Jule Hopwood Award in poetry, 1939. Professor of English at Harvard, 1946-48, and Rutgers, 1953-61.

From the description of Letter, 1980 Feb. 4, Key West, Fla., to Henry F. Pommer, Ripon, Wis. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34364896

Poet, editor, literary critic, lecturer, and journalist. Full name: John Anthony Ciardi.

From the description of John Ciardi papers, 1910-1997 (bulk 1960-1985). (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70979846

American poet, critic, and editor. Winner of Avery and Jule Hopwood Award in poetry, 1939. Professor of English at Harvard, 1946-48, and Rutgers, 1953-61.

From the description of Letters, 1952-1955, to J. Vernon Shea, Jr. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 34365082

American poet and critic; known for his English translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.

From the description of Letters, 1952-1969. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122493012

American poet.

From the description of Letter, ca. 1954, Bound Brook, New York, to Nelson [Algren?] [manuscript]. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647817382

Editor.

From the description of Letters, 1949-1953. (Indiana University). WorldCat record id: 38490347

Poet; Boston, Massachusetts.

From the description of The shock of recognition : art as the expression of human personality, 1953 June. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122515804

Biographical Note

• 1916, June 24: Born, Boston, Mass.
• 1933 - 1935 : Attended Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
• 1935 - 1938 : Attended Tufts University, Medford, Mass., receiving B.A. in 1938
• 1938 - 1939 : Attended University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich., receiving M.A. in English in 1939
• 1939: Avery Hopwood Award for poetry
• 1940: Published Homeward to America (New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Co. 62 pp.)
• 1940 - 1942 : Instructor in English, University of Missouri, Kansas City, Mo.
• 1942 - 1945 : United States Army Air Corps
• 1945: Eunice Tietjens Award for poetry
• 1945 - 1946 : Instructor in English, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, Mo.
• 1946: Married Myra Judith Hostetter
• 1946 - 1953 : Instructor and assistant professor, Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.
• 1947 - 1955 : Lecturer in poetry, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Ripton, Vt.
• 1949 - 1955 : Poetry editor, Twayne Publishers
• 1954: Published translation of Inferno by Dante Alighieri (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 288 pp.)
• 1953 - 1961 : Associate professor and professor, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
• 1955: Published As If: Poems New and Selected (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 143 pp.)
• 1955 - 1972 : Director, Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Ripton, Vt.
• 1956 - 1972 : Poetry editor, Saturday Review
• 1956: Prix de Rome, American Academy of Arts and Letters
• 1959: Published The Reason for the Pelican (Philadelphia, Pa.: J.B. Lippincott. 63 pp.)
• 1960: D. Litt., Tufts University, Medford, Mass.
• 1961: Published translation of Purgatorio by Dante Alighieri (New York, N.Y.: New American Library. 350 pp.) Published I Met a Man (Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin. 74 pp.)
• 1963: Published Dialogue with an Audience (Philadelphia, Pa.: J.B. Lippincott. 316 pp.)
• 1964: Published Person to Person (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 83 pp.)
• 1966: Published The Monster Den (Philadelphia, Pa.: J.B. Lippincott. 62 pp.)
• 1970: Published translation of Paradiso by Dante Alighieri (New York, N.Y.: New American Library. 367 pp.)
• 1971: Published Lives of X (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 118 pp.) Published Manner of Speaking (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. 118 pp.)
• 1978: Published Limericks, Too Gross with Isaac Asimov (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton. 101 pp.)
• 1980: Published A Browser's Dictionary (New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row. 429 pp.)
• 1981: Published A Grossery of Limericks with Isaac Asimov (New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton. 101 pp.)
• 1983: Published A Second Browser's Dictionary (New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row. 329 pp.)
• 1986, Mar. 30: Died, Edison, N.J.
• 1987: Posthumous publication of Good Words to You (New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row. 343 pp.)
• 1997: Posthumous publication of Collected Poems of John Ciardi edited by Edward M. Cifelli (Fayetteville, Ark.: University of Arkansas Press. 618 pp.)

From the guide to the John Ciardi Papers, 1910-1997, (bulk 1960-1985), (Manuscript Division Library of Congress)

Ciardi, the son of Italian immigrants, was born in Boston's North End. He grew up in Medford, Massachusetts and studied at his hometown college, Tufts University, before receiving his M.A. from the University of Michigan in 1939.

After years of teaching English at Harvard (1946-1953) and Rutgers (1953-1961), Ciardi resigned his tenured faculty position to pursue an independent career. Ciardi wrote 21 books of poetry. He served as a highly popular poetry editor of the Saturday Review from 1956 to 1972. His occasional public television broadcasts were supplemented by his weekly National Public Radio series begun in 1980 entitled, "A Word in Your Ear." A National Teachers Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children was presented to Ciardi in 1982. He died of a heart attack on Easter Sunday in 1986.

From the guide to the John Ciardi letters, Ciardi (John) letters, 1952-1969, (Brown University Library Special Collections)

John Anthony Ciardi (1916-1986) was an American poet, translator, and etymologist. He is best known for his poetry, including a well-received translation of Dante's Divine Comedy and several volumes of children's poetry; other works include Person to Person, You Know Who, In the Stoneworks, and How Does a Poem Mean?

Born in Boston, Ciardi attended Tufts College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1938; D. Lit, 1960) and the University of Michigan (M.A., 1939).

Ciardi taught at Harvard College and Rutgers University, and was poetry editor of the Saturday Review from 1956 to 1972. He received several awards for his poetry, including the Prix de Rome of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1956 and honorary degrees from Wayne University, Ursinus College and Kalamazoo College. He was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Institute of Arts and Letters.

From the guide to the John Ciardi Papers, 1957, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)