William Bronk
Encyclopedia
William Bronk was an American poet. He won the National Book Award
in 1982.
, arriving there at the age of 16, and after graduation spent one semester at Harvard
.
Bronk served in World War II
first as a draftee but later, after attending OCS
, as an officer. He was discharged from the Army in October 1945 and started teaching English at Union College, Schenectady, New York
. He left Union in June 1946 and returned to Hudson Falls. There, during the later half of 1946, he completed work on The Brother in Elysium. In January 1947 Bronk took over management of the Bronk Coal and Lumber Company which he had inherited when his father died unexpectedly in 1941.
After his one semester of graduate school at Harvard, Bronk “decided I couldn't take any more of that.” He taught English at Union College
. After his father died in 1941, he decided to return to the family business temporarily. He ended up staying more than 30 years. He retired from the business in 1978.
Bronk said that the poems were created in his mind as he went through the business of the day. When one was ready, he put it on paper, working in longhand rather than at a typewriter. As his manuscripts attest, he seldom rewrote, or even modified, a poem once written on paper.
William Bronk died Sunday, February 22, 1999.
Essays
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
in 1982.
Life and work
William Bronk was born in a house on Lower Main Street in Fort Edward, New York. He had an older brother Sherman who died young and two older sisters, Jane and Betty. William attended Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, arriving there at the age of 16, and after graduation spent one semester at Harvard
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...
.
Bronk served in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
first as a draftee but later, after attending OCS
Officer Candidate School
Officer Candidate School or Officer Cadet School are institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country....
, as an officer. He was discharged from the Army in October 1945 and started teaching English at Union College, Schenectady, New York
Schenectady, New York
Schenectady is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 66,135...
. He left Union in June 1946 and returned to Hudson Falls. There, during the later half of 1946, he completed work on The Brother in Elysium. In January 1947 Bronk took over management of the Bronk Coal and Lumber Company which he had inherited when his father died unexpectedly in 1941.
After his one semester of graduate school at Harvard, Bronk “decided I couldn't take any more of that.” He taught English at Union College
Union College
Union College is a private, non-denominational liberal arts college located in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents. In the 19th century, it became the "Mother of Fraternities", as...
. After his father died in 1941, he decided to return to the family business temporarily. He ended up staying more than 30 years. He retired from the business in 1978.
Bronk said that the poems were created in his mind as he went through the business of the day. When one was ready, he put it on paper, working in longhand rather than at a typewriter. As his manuscripts attest, he seldom rewrote, or even modified, a poem once written on paper.
William Bronk died Sunday, February 22, 1999.
Selected bibliography
Poetry- Light and Dark, Origin Press, 1956, 2nd edition, Elizabeth Press, 1975.
- The World, the Worldless, New Directions, 1964.
- The Empty Hands, Elizabeth Press, 1969.
- That Tantalus, Elizabeth Press, 1971.
- Utterances: The Loss of Grass, Trees, Water: The Unbecoming of Wanted and Wanter, Burning DeckBurning Deck PressBurning Deck is a small press specializing in the publication of experimental poetry and prose. Burning Deck was founded by the writers Keith Waldrop and Rosmarie Waldrop in 1961.-Overview:...
, 1972. - To Praise the Music, Elizabeth Press, 1972.
- Looking at It, Sceptre Press, 1973.
- A Partial Glossary: Two Essays, Elizabeth Press, 1974.
- The Stance, Graywolf Press, 1975.
- Silence and Metaphor, Elizabeth Press, 1975.
- Finding Losses, Elizabeth Press, 1976.
- The Meantime, Elizabeth Press, 1976.
- My Father Photographed with Friends and Other Pictures, Elizabeth Press, 1976.
- Twelve Losses Found, Grosseteste, 1976.
- That Beauty Still, Burning Deck, 1978.
- Life Supports, North Point Press (San Francisco, CA), 1982.
- Light in a Dark Sky, William Ewert, 1982.
- Careless Love and Its Apostrophes, Red Ozier Press, 1985.
- Manifest; And Furthermore, North Point Press (San Francisco, CA), 1987.
- Death Is the Place (poems), North Point Press (San Francisco, CA), 1989.
- Living Instead (poems), North Point Press (San Francisco, CA), 1991.
- Some Words (poems), Asphodel Press (Mount Kisco, NY), 1992.
- The Mild Day (poems), Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1993.
- Our Selves (poems), Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1994.
- Selected Poems, selected by Henry Weinfield, New Directions Publishing (New York, NY), 1995.
- The Cage of Age (poems), Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1996.
- Life Supports (poems), Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1997.
- All of What We Loved (poems), Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1998.
- Some Words (poems), Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1998.
- Metaphor of Trees and Last Poems, Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1999.
Essays
- The New World, Elizabeth Press, 1974.
- The Brother in Elysium, Elizabeth Press, 1980.
- Vectors and Smoothable Curves, North Point Press (San Francisco, CA), 1983, new edition, Talisman House (Hoboken, NJ), 1997.
External links
- William Bronk Biography
- New York Times obituary
- William Bronk’s Path Among the Forms essay by Thomas Lisk at Jacket Magazine site
- Neither Us nor Them: Poetry Anthologies, Canon Building, and the Silencing of William Bronk essay by David Clippinger at The Argotist Online
- 36 Poems read by William Bronk audio-files at "PENNsound" site, recorded in Hudson Falls, New York on October 13, 1978.
- Obituary @ Electronic Poetry Center includes remembrances by Robert CreeleyRobert CreeleyRobert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
and Burt KimmelmanBurt KimmelmanBurt Kimmelman is an American poet and scholar.-Life and work:Kimmelman is noted for his astute criticism of modern and postmodern American poetry and the development of the poetics of authorship in medieval Europe and is a celebrated poet within the tradition of William Carlos Williams.Kimmelman... - William Bronk Exhibit at Modern American Poets website
- An Interview with William Bronk
- William Bronk Papers 1908-1999 archived at Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia 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...
- The Poetry Foundation's William Bronk Exhibit
- Modern American Poetry