Clampitt, Amy, 1920-1994

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Clampitt was born on June 15, 1920, of Quaker parents, and brought up in New Providence, Iowa. In the American Academy of Arts and Letters and at nearby Grinnell College she began a study of English literature that eventually led her to poetry. She graduated from Grinnell College, and from that time on lived mainly in New York City. To support herself, she worked as a secretary at the Oxford University Press, a reference librarian at the Audubon Society, and a freelance editor. Not until the mid-1960s, when she was in her forties, did she return to writing poetry. Her first poem was published by The New Yorker in 1978. In 1983, at the age of sixty-three, she published her first full-length collection, The Kingfisher. In the decade that followed, Clampitt published five books of poetry, including What the Light Was Like (1985), Archaic Figure (1987), and Westward (1990). Her last book, A Silence Opens, appeared in 1994. She also published a book of essays and several privately printed editions of her longer poems. She taught at the College of William and Mary, Smith College, and Amherst College, but it was her time spent in Manhattan, in a remote part of Maine, and on various trips to Europe, the former Soviet Union, Iowa, Wales, and England that most directly influenced her work. Clampitt was the recipient of a 1982 Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur Fellowship (1992), and she was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Poets. She died of cancer in September 1994.
Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Collection on Amy Clampitt, 1938-1998. Southern Methodist University DeGolyer Library
creatorOf Moss, Howard, 1922-1987. Papers, ca. 1935-1987, bulk (1961-1987). New York Public Library System, NYPL
creatorOf Clampitt, Amy. Poetry reading at Sarah Lawrence College [sound recording] / by Amy Clampitt. Sarah Lawrence College, Esther Raushenbush Library
referencedIn Starr, Cecile, collector. Cecile Starr collection on Amy Clampitt, Robert Lowell, Carrie Starr, and others, 1947-1984 Houghton Library
creatorOf Clampitt, Amy. Mad with joy or "A guilty thing surprized" : a chronicle in two acts / by Amy Clampitt. Grinnell College. Burling Library
referencedIn New Yorker records New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Pinsky, Robert. Robert Pinsky papers, circa 1960-2008. Stanford University. Department of Special Collections and University Archives
referencedIn Parnassus: poetry in review records, 1971-1996 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
creatorOf Clampitt, Amy. Office files of The American Poetry Review, 1987. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Collection on Amy Clampitt A2008. 0010., 1938-1998 DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University
creatorOf Garrett, George, 1929-2008. Papers of George Garrett [manuscript], 1989-1990. University of Virginia. Library
referencedIn Stephen Sandy letters from poets, 1954-1988. Houghton Library
referencedIn Woodberry Poetry Room (Harvard College Library) poetry readings, 1931- (ongoing). Woodberry Poetry Room, Houghton Library, Harvard College Library, Harvard University
creatorOf Clampitt, Amy. Papers of Amy Clampitt, 1984-1993. University of Iowa Libraries
creatorOf Mead, Andrew Washburn. What the light was like. Part 1 : for mezzo-soprano and chamber orchestra / Andrew Mead ; on a poem by Amy Clampitt. Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries
referencedIn Mary Hyde Eccles papers, 1853-2005, (bulk) 1939-2003. Houghton Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith DeGolyer Library corporateBody
correspondedWith Eccles, Mary Hyde. person
associatedWith Fairchild, Laura. person
associatedWith Garrett, George, 1929-2008. person
associatedWith Houghton Mifflin Company. corporateBody
associatedWith Mead, Andrew Washburn. person
associatedWith Moss, Howard, 1922-1987. person
correspondedWith New Yorker Magazine, Inc corporateBody
correspondedWith Parnassus: poetry in review corporateBody
associatedWith Pinsky, Robert. person
correspondedWith Sandy, Stephen, recipient. person
associatedWith Sarah Lawrence College. corporateBody
associatedWith Woodberry Poetry Room (Harvard College Library). corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
New York City NY US
Iowa IA US
Maine ME US
Subject
American poetry
Poetry
Women poets, American
Occupation
Poets
Activity

Person

Birth 1920-06-15

Death 1994-09-10

Americans

English

Information

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