William Harmon
Encyclopedia
William Harmon is James Gordon Hanes Professor Emeritus in the Humanities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
, author of five books of poetry and editor of A Handbook to Literature. His most recent poetry has appeared in Blink and Light
.
, a small cotton-mill town northeast of Charlotte
. In 1954, at the age of sixteen, he entered the University of Chicago
. He graduated in 1958. He was an officer on active duty with the United States Navy
between 1960 and 1967, the last year of which was in Vietnam
. As an adviser to the South Vietnamese Navy, he wrote its Standard Ship's Organization Manual. He continued as a Reserve officer until 1980, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander. After returning to the United States, he pursued post-graduate work (focused predominantly on trans-Atlantic modernist poetry
) at the University of Chicago
, where he earned his master's degree in 1968; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
, where he earned an additional master's the same year; and the University of Cincinnati
, where he earned his doctorate in 1970. His dissertation on Ezra Pound
was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1977. In 1970 he was hired by UNC Chapel Hill, where he remained on the faculty until 2008, when he retired. His first book of poetry, Treasury Holiday, was published in 1970 by Wesleyan University
Press and became the Lamont Poetry Selection of the year. His most recent collection of poetry, Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices, won the Poetry Society of America
's William Carlos Williams Award in 1985.
Harmon has been donating an extensive set of correspondences (over 10,000 items, deemed the William Harmon Papers) to the Southern Historical Collection at Wilson Library (located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
). The letters document Harmon's discussions with a range of other poets including A.R. Ammons, John Ashbery
, Robert Bly
, Robert Creeley
, John Hollander
, Richard Wilbur
, and Robert Penn Warren
.
Edited Reference Works
Literary Criticism
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, author of five books of poetry and editor of A Handbook to Literature. His most recent poetry has appeared in Blink and Light
Light Quarterly
Light: A Quarterly of Light Verse, published in Chicago since 1992 by founding editor John Mella, bills itself as "the only magazine available in [the U.S.] devoted exclusively to Light Verse." The verse in each issue begins with a several-page feature on a writer of light verse, and ends with a...
.
Life
William Harmon was born in Concord, North CarolinaConcord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
, a small cotton-mill town northeast of Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
. In 1954, at the age of sixteen, he entered the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
. He graduated in 1958. He was an officer on active duty with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
between 1960 and 1967, the last year of which was in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. As an adviser to the South Vietnamese Navy, he wrote its Standard Ship's Organization Manual. He continued as a Reserve officer until 1980, reaching the rank of lieutenant commander. After returning to the United States, he pursued post-graduate work (focused predominantly on trans-Atlantic modernist poetry
Modernist poetry
Modernist poetry refers to poetry written between 1890 and 1950 in the tradition of modernist literature in the English language, but the dates of the term depend upon a number of factors, including the nation of origin, the particular school in question, and the biases of the critic setting the...
) at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, where he earned his master's degree in 1968; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
, where he earned an additional master's the same year; and the University of Cincinnati
University of Cincinnati
The University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
, where he earned his doctorate in 1970. His dissertation on Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
was published by the University of North Carolina Press in 1977. In 1970 he was hired by UNC Chapel Hill, where he remained on the faculty until 2008, when he retired. His first book of poetry, Treasury Holiday, was published in 1970 by Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University
Wesleyan University is a private liberal arts college founded in 1831 and located in Middletown, Connecticut. According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, Wesleyan is the only Baccalaureate College in the nation that emphasizes undergraduate instruction in the arts and...
Press and became the Lamont Poetry Selection of the year. His most recent collection of poetry, Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices, won the Poetry Society of America
Poetry Society of America
The 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...
's William Carlos Williams Award in 1985.
Harmon has been donating an extensive set of correspondences (over 10,000 items, deemed the William Harmon Papers) to the Southern Historical Collection at Wilson Library (located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
). The letters document Harmon's discussions with a range of other poets including A.R. Ammons, John Ashbery
John Ashbery
John Lawrence Ashbery is an American poet. He has published more than twenty volumes of poetry and won nearly every major American award for poetry, including a Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his collection Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. But Ashbery's work still proves controversial...
, Robert Bly
Robert Bly
Robert Bly is an American poet, author, activist and leader of the Mythopoetic Men's Movement.-Life:Bly was born in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, to Jacob and Alice Bly, who were of Norwegian ancestry. Following graduation from high school in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy, serving...
, Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert 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...
, John Hollander
John Hollander
John Hollander is a Jewish-American poet and literary critic. As of 2007, he is Sterling Professor Emeritus of English at Yale University...
, Richard Wilbur
Richard Wilbur
Richard Purdy Wilbur is an American poet and literary translator. He was appointed the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1987, and twice received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1957 and again in 1989....
, and Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
.
Works
Poetry- Mutatis Mutandis: 27 Invoices (1985)
- One Long Poem (1982)
- The Intussusception of Miss Mary America (1976)
- Legion: Civic Choruses (1973)
- Treasury Holiday : Thirty-Four Fits for the Opening of the Fiscal Year (1970)
Edited Reference Works
- A Handbook to Literature (5th - 12th Editions) (1984 - 2011)
- Classic Writings on Poetry (2005)
- The Classic Hundred: All-Time Favorite Poems (2nd Edition) (1998)
- The Top 500 Poems (1992)
- The Oxford book of American light verse (1979)
Literary Criticism
- Time in Ezra Pound's Work (1977)
External links
- Inventory of the William Harmon Papers, in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC-Chapel HillUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillThe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. - The Companion Website for A Handbook to Literature