Henri Cole
Encyclopedia
Henri Cole is an award-winning American poet
.
, Japan
, to an American father and French mother, and raised in Virginia
, United States
. His father, a North Carolinian, enlisted in the service after graduating from high school and, while stationed in Marseilles, met Cole's mother, who worked at the PX. Together they lived in Japan
, Germany
, Illinois
, California
, Nevada, Missouri
and Virginia
, where Cole attended public schools and the College of William and Mary. He has published eight collections of poetry in English.
From 1982 until 1988 he was executive director of The Academy of American Poets
. Since that time he has held many teaching positions and been the artist-in-residence at various institutions, including Brandeis University
, Columbia University
, Davidson College
, Harvard University
, Reed College
, Smith College
, The College of William and Mary, and Yale University
.
Cole currently teaches at Ohio State University
and is the poetry editor of The New Republic
. He lives in Boston
.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
.
Biography
Henri Cole was born in FukuokaFukuoka, Fukuoka
is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture and is situated on the northern shore of the island of Kyushu in Japan.Voted number 14 in a 2010 poll of the World's Most Livable Cities, Fukuoka is praised for its green spaces in a metropolitan setting. It is the most populous city in Kyushu, followed by...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, to an American father and French mother, and raised in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His father, a North Carolinian, enlisted in the service after graduating from high school and, while stationed in Marseilles, met Cole's mother, who worked at the PX. Together they lived in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, Nevada, Missouri
Nevada, Missouri
Nevada is a city in Vernon County, Missouri, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2011 census. It is the county seat of Vernon County. Nevada is the home of Cottey College, a junior college for women operated by the P.E.O. Sisterhood....
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, where Cole attended public schools and the College of William and Mary. He has published eight collections of poetry in English.
From 1982 until 1988 he was executive director of The Academy of American Poets
Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry. The Academy was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
. Since that time he has held many teaching positions and been the artist-in-residence at various institutions, including Brandeis University
Brandeis University
Brandeis University is an American private research university with a liberal arts focus. It is located in the southwestern corner of Waltham, Massachusetts, nine miles west of Boston. The University has an enrollment of approximately 3,200 undergraduate and 2,100 graduate students. In 2011, it...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, Davidson College
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. The college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently ranked in the top ten liberal arts colleges in the country by U.S. News and World Report magazine, although it has recently dropped to 11th in U.S. News...
, Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...
, Smith College
Smith College
Smith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
, The College of William and Mary, and Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
.
Cole currently teaches at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
and is the poetry editor of The New Republic
The New Republic
The magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
. He lives in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
Books of poetry
- 2011: Touch, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 2011: Terre Médiane (French translation by Claire Malroux), Paris: Le bruit du temps
- 2010: Mirlo y Lobo (Spanish translation by Eduardo López Truco), Cantabria: Quálea Editorial
- 2010: Autoritratto con Gatti (Italian translation by Massimo Bacigalupo), Parma: Guanda Editore
- 2010: Pierce the Skin (Selected Poems, 1982-2007), New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 2008: La Apariencia de la Cosas (Spanish translation by Eduardo López Truco), Cantabria: Quálea Editorial
- 2007: Blackbird and Wolf, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 2005: Vingt-Deux Poèmes (French translation by Claire Malroux), Paris: Yvon Lambert
- 2003: Middle Earth, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 1998: The Visible Man, New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux
- 1995: The Look of Things
- 1989: The Zoo Wheel of Knowledge
- 1986: The Marble Queen
Awards and honors
- 2011 — Harvard University Phi Beta Kappa poet
- 2011 — Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Award in Poetry for Pierce the Skin (Selected Poems 1982-2007)
- 2010 — American Academy of Arts & Sciences, elected member
- 2009 — Sara Teasdale Award in Poetry, Wellesley College
- 2009 — National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Literature Fellowship - 2008 — Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for Blackbird and Wolf, Academy of American Poets
- 2008 — Ambassador Book AwardAmbassador Book AwardThe Ambassador Book Award is awarded annually by the English Speaking Union. It recognizes important literary works that contribute to the understanding and interpretation of American life and culture. Winners of the award are considered literary ambassadors who provide, in the best contemporary...
in Poetry for Blackbird and Wolf, English-Speaking Union of the United States - 2008 — Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry for Blackbird and Wolf
- 2008 — Lambda Literary AwardLambda Literary AwardLambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
in Poetry for Blackbird and Wolf - 2007 — United States ArtistsUnited States ArtistsUnited States Artists is an independent nonprofit and nongovernmental philanthropic organization based in Los Angeles, California and dedicated to supporting the work of living American artists by the granting of cash awards, called USA Fellowships...
USA Hildreth/Williams Fellow, Literature - 2004 — Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award for Middle Earth
- 2004 — John Simon Guggenheim Memorial FoundationJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial FoundationThe John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Mr. and Mrs. Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died April 26, 1922...
Fellowship - 2004 — Award in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters
- 2004 — Finalist, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
in Poetry for Middle Earth - 2004 — Finalist, Los Angeles Times Book Award in Poetry for Middle Earth
- 2004 — Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry for Middle Earth
- 2001 — Japan-US Friendship Commission, Creative Artist Fellowship
- 2000 — Berlin PrizeBerlin PrizeThe Berlin Prize is a residential fellowship at the Hans Arnhold Center, awarded by the American Academy in Berlin.- Fellows of the American Academy in Berlin :-References:*http://www.americanacademy.de/home/about-us/hans-arnhold-center/...
, American Academy in BerlinAmerican Academy in BerlinThe American Academy in Berlin is a research and cultural institution in Berlin whose stated mission is to foster a greater understanding and dialogue between the people of the United States and the people of Germany.The American Academy was founded in September 1994 by a group of prominent... - 1995 — Rome PrizeRome PrizeThe Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists and to 15 scholars The Rome Prize is an American award made annually by the American Academy in Rome, through a national competition, to 15 emerging artists...
in Literature, American Academy of Arts and Letters - 1993 — National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
Literature Fellowship - 1989 — Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling ScholarshipAmy Lowell Poetry Travelling ScholarshipThe Amy Lowell Poetry Travelling Scholarship is given annually to a U.S.-born poet to spend one year outside North America in a country the recipient feels will most advance his or her work....
External links
- Official website
- Academy of American Poets -- Henri Cole's webpage
- THE NATION -- "The Art of Violent Concision"
- THE NEW REPUBLIC -- "Making a Soul"
- A personal essay: "How I Grew"
- An interview: "What is American about American poetry"
- United States Artists -- 2007 USA Fellow
- 'All I need to Say, Better', review of Pierce the Skin in the Oxonian Review