Posner, David Louis

American poet David Louis Posner was born August 6, 1921, in New York, to Nell and Louis S. Posner.

In 1945, Posner received his B.A. from Kenyon College where he majored in French and in 1947 he received his M.A. in English Literature from Harvard. After studying at the Sorbonne, he worked for two years with Radio Diffusion Française interviewing famous personalities. During this time, he traveled extensively in Europe and pursued an interest in archeology.

In 1953, Posner returned to formal academic pursuits and studied modern languages at Wadham College, Oxford. Posner also began writing poetry, in fact his poem, "The Deserted Altar," won the Newdigate Prize for English Verse in 1956.

From 1957-1969, Posner was an English instructor and Assistant Curator of Poetry at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He became an assistant professor of English at the University of California and remained there until 1973.

Posner published seven books of poetry, including The Deserted Altar (1957), A Rake’s Progress: A poem in five sections (1967), Visit to the East (1971) and Geographies (1979). Posner was also a life-long collector of first editions of literature until his death in 1985.

American poet and critic John Ciardi, born June 24, 1916, in Boston, Massachusetts, was the poetry editor for the Saturday Review from 1956 to 1972.

Early in his career, John Ciardi taught English at a number of universities, including the University of Kansas City, Missouri (1940-1942, 1946), Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts (1946-1953), and Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey (1953-1961).

Ciardi was a lecturer in poetry at the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference from 1947 to 1973 and the director of the conference from 1955 to 1972.

John Ciardi's interest in Italian literature resulted in his critically acclaimed translations of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, including The Inferno (1954), The Purgatorio (1961) and The Paradiso (1970).

His interest in etymology, word derivation, and linguistic research culminated in a multi-volume work, A Browser's Dictionary and Native's Guide to the Unknown American Language (1980).

Through numerous public readings and lectures, his poetry written for juveniles, and his appearances on educational television, Ciardi was a strong proponent of sharing poetry with mass audiences. In his preface to Dialogue with an Audience, Ciardi expressed the hope that some readers "can be brought to a more than merely general interest in poetry."

John Ciardi died on March 31, 1986.

"David Louis Posner." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Reproduced in: Gale Biography In Context. http://ic.galegroup.com (accessed September 30, 2011) "John Ciardi." Poetry Foundation. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/john-ciardi (accessed October 3, 2011) "John Anthony Ciardi." Merriam Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1995. Reproduced in: Gale Biography In Context. http://ic.galegroup.com (accessed October 3, 2011)

From the guide to the David Posner poems and correspondence with John Ciardi, 1950-1958, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)

American poet David Louis Posner was born August 6, 1921 in New York to Nell and Louis S. Posner. Although his father was born in Britain, he worked as a lawyer on Wall Street and later became Commissioner of Education for New York City. In 1945, Posner received his B.A. from Kenyon College where he majored in French and in 1947 he received his M.A. in English Literature from Harvard. After studying at the Sorbonne, he worked for two years with Radio Diffusion Française interviewing famous personalities. During this time, he travelled extensively in Europe and pursued an interest in archeology. He accompanied an expedition searching for a Phoenician city in Libya and another working at the Palace of Minos in Crete. In 1953, Posner returned to formal academic pursuits and studied modern languages at Wadham College, Oxford. Posner’s poem, “The Deserted Altar,” won the Newdigate Prize for English Verse in 1956. From 1957-1969, Posner was an English instructor and Assistant Curator of Poetry at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He became an assistant professor of English at the University of California and remained there until 1973. He published seven books of poetry, including The Deserted Altar (1957), A Rake’s Progress: A poem in five sections (1967), Visit to the East (1971) and Geographies (1979). Posner was also a life-long collector of first editions of literature until his death in 1985.

Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: The Gale Group. 2004. Additional information acquired from materials in collection.

From the guide to the David Louis Posner papers, 1923–1957, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)