Galvin, Brendan James, 1938-2023

Brendan James Galvin was born in Everett, Massachusetts on October 20, 1938 to James Russell and Rose Galvin. He attended Malden Catholic High School, before enrolling at Boston College, where he earned his BS in Natural Sciences in 1960. Galvin went on to receive his MA in English from Northeastern University in 1964 and his MFA in Creative Writing and PhD in English from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1968 and 1970 respectively. Galvin married Ellen Baer on August 1, 1968, and they had two children, Peter and Anne.

From 1969 until 1997, Galvin taught as a professor of English at Central Connecticut State University. He also held numerous other teaching positions, including serving as Coal Royalty Distinguished Writer in Residence at University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa in spring 1993; Wyndham Robertson Visiting Writer in Residence at Hollins University in spring 1999; and Whichard Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at East Carolina University in fall 2002. He was the founder and director of the Connecticut Writers' Conference from 1973 until 1982, and also taught at other writers’ conferences and workshops throughout his career.

Galvin published numerous books of poetry, including Winter Oysters (1983); Hotel Malabar (1998); Ocean Effects (2007); and Egg Island Almanac (2017), as well as his translation of Women of Trachis by Sophocles (1998). Additionally, his poems appeared in over 600 magazines, textbooks, and anthologies, including Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and Poetry. His book Habitat: New and Selected Poems (2005) was a finalist for the National Book Award. Other honors for his work include a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1988); Folger Shakespeare Library’s O. B. Hardison, Jr., Poetry Prize (1991); and two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships (1974, 1988). He was honored in 2009 with the Boston College Alumni Arts Award.

Galvin died on August 17, 2023.