Sophie Cabot Black
Encyclopedia
Sophie Cabot Black is an American prize-winning poet
who has taught creative writing at Columbia University
and elsewhere.
. Her father is David Black (b. 1931), a Broadway producer, actor, teacher, writer and artistic director. Her mother is Linda Cabot Black, cofounder of Opera Company of Boston
and Opera New England. She has one sibling: actor Jeremy Black, who appeared as the boy Hitler clones in Boys from Brazil.
In 1980, Black received her B.A. from Marlboro College
. In 1984, she graduated from Columbia University
with a M.F.A.
, Boston Review
, The Paris Review, Poetry
, Fence, APR, Bomb, and The New Republic
. Various anthologies have also included her work, such as More Light: Father & Daughter Poems, The Best American Poetry 1993 (edited by Louise Glück
), and Looking for Home: Women in Exile.
Black has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony
(1988), the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
(1988), and, most recently, the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College
. As of late 2003, she was teaching at Columbia.
Her essays appear in Wanting a Child and First Loves. One of her poems was used in a song on an album by Akiko Yano
.
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
who has taught creative writing at 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...
and elsewhere.
Early life
Cabot was born in New York, New York and raised on a small farm in Wilton, ConnecticutWilton, Connecticut
Wilton is a town nestled in the Norwalk River Valley in southwestern Connecticut in the United States. It is located in Fairfield County. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 18,062. In 2007, it was voted as one of CNN Money's "Best Places to Live" in the United States.Located along...
. Her father is David Black (b. 1931), a Broadway producer, actor, teacher, writer and artistic director. Her mother is Linda Cabot Black, cofounder of Opera Company of Boston
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the...
and Opera New England. She has one sibling: actor Jeremy Black, who appeared as the boy Hitler clones in Boys from Brazil.
In 1980, Black received her B.A. from Marlboro College
Marlboro College
Marlboro College is a small, coeducational, alternative liberal-arts college in Marlboro, Vermont, USA.-History:Marlboro College was founded in 1946 by Walter Hendricks for returning World War II veterans on Potash Hill in Marlboro, Vermont. The school's operation was initially financed using money...
. In 1984, she graduated from 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...
with a M.F.A.
Career
Black's poetry has appeared in publications including The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, Boston Review
Boston Review
Boston Review is a bimonthly American political and literary magazine. The magazine covers, specifically, political debates, literature, and poetry...
, The Paris Review, Poetry
Poetry (magazine)
Poetry , published in Chicago, Illinois since 1912, is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Published by the Poetry Foundation and currently edited by Christian Wiman, the magazine has a circulation of 30,000 and prints 300 poems per year out of approximately...
, Fence, APR, Bomb, and 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...
. Various anthologies have also included her work, such as More Light: Father & Daughter Poems, The Best American Poetry 1993 (edited by Louise Glück
Louise Glück
Louise Elisabeth Glück is an American poet of Hungarian Jewish heritage. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2003, after serving as a Special Bicentennial Consultant three years prior in 2000....
), and Looking for Home: Women in Exile.
Black has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
(1988), the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
Provincetown, Massachusetts
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 3,431 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2007 population of 3,174...
(1988), and, most recently, the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College
Radcliffe College was a women's liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was the coordinate college for Harvard University. It was also one of the Seven Sisters colleges. Radcliffe College conferred joint Harvard-Radcliffe diplomas beginning in 1963 and a formal merger agreement with...
. As of late 2003, she was teaching at Columbia.
Poetry collections
- The Misunderstanding of Nature (19941994 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Allen Ginsberg sells his papers to Stanford University for $1 million.* C. P...
), her first collection of poems; Graywolf PressGraywolf PressGraywolf Press is an independent, non-profit publisher located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Founded on a dedication to the creation and promotion of thoughtful and imaginative contemporary literature essential to a vital and diverse culture, Graywolf Press publishes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.Now...
; received the Poetry Society of AmericaPoetry Society of AmericaThe Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...
Norma Farber First Book Award; 90 pages; ISBN 1-55597-190-3 (hardcover); ISBN 1-55597-201-2 (paperback) - The Descent: poetry (20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
), Graywolf Press; 73 pages, ISBN 1-55597-406-6 (paperback)
Other
Black's translations of Latin American poets have been included in the anthologies You Can't Drown the Fire and Twentieth-Century Latin American Poetry: A Bilingual Anthology.Her essays appear in Wanting a Child and First Loves. One of her poems was used in a song on an album by Akiko Yano
Akiko Yano
is a Japanese pop and jazz musician and singer. She was born as Akiko Suzuki in Tokyo and raised in Aomori, Aomori, and later began her singing career in the mid-1970s...
.
Awards
- Grolier Poetry Prize, 1988
- John Masefield Award from the Poetry Society of AmericaPoetry Society of AmericaThe Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists including Witter Bynner. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the have included such renowned writers as Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Edna St. Vincent...
, 1989 - Emerging Poets Award from Judith's Room, 1990
- Connecticut Book Award for Poetry, 2005