American academic, writer and poet
Claudia Emerson (January 13, 1957 – December 4, 2014)
[1] was an American poet. She won the 2006
Pulitzer Prize for her poetry collection Late Wife ,
[2]
[3] and was named the
Poet Laureate of Virginia by Governor
Tim Kaine in 2008.
[4]
Early life
Emerson was born on January 13, 1957, in
Chatham, Virginia , and graduated from
Chatham Hall preparatory school in 1975.
[5] She received her BA in English from the
University of Virginia in 1979 and her
Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the
University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1991.
[1]
Virginia Poets Laureate at University of Mary Washington Reunion Day, June 3, 2011. Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (2006–2008), Claudia Emerson (2008–2010), and Kelly Cherry (2010–2012)
Career
Emerson published eight poetry collections through Louisiana State University Press's Southern Messenger Poets series: Pharaoh, Pharaoh (1997), Pinion: An Elegy (2002), Late Wife (2005), Figure Studies: Poems (2008), Secure the Shadow (2012), Impossible Bottle (2015), The Opposite House (2015) and Claude before Time and Space (2018).
[1]
Three collections were published posthumously, The Opposite House (March 2015), Impossible Bottle (September 2015) and Claude before Time and Space (February 2018).
[6]
In addition to her collections, Emerson's work has been included in such anthologies as Yellow Shoe Poets ,
[7]
[8] The Made Thing ,
[9]
[10] Strongly Spent: 50 Years of Shenandoah Poetry ,
[11] and Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia .
[12]
Emerson served as poetry editor for the
Greensboro Review and a contributing editor for the literary magazine
Shenandoah .
[1]
[13]
In 2002, Emerson was Guest Editor of Visions-International (published by Black Buzzard Press).[
citation needed ]
[14] On August 26, 2008, she was appointed
Poet Laureate of Virginia , by then Governor
Timothy M. Kaine
[15] and served until 2010.
[16] In 2008, she returned to
Chatham Hall to serve as The Siragusa Foundation's Poet-in-Residence.
[17]
She taught at several colleges including
Washington and Lee University in
Lexington, Virginia and
Randolph-Macon College in
Ashland, Virginia . She spent over a decade at the
University of Mary Washington , in
Fredericksburg, Virginia , as an English professor and the Arrington Distinguished Chair in Poetry.
[18]
In 2013, Emerson joined the creative writing faculty at
Virginia Commonwealth University in
Richmond, Virginia , where she taught until her death in 2014 from
colon cancer at age 57.
[19]
[20]
Personal life
Emerson married musician Kent Ippolito in 2000. The couple lived in
Richmond, Virginia , and performed and wrote songs together.
[21] After missing most of the Fall 2014 semester while seeking cancer treatments, Claudia Emerson died on December 4, 2014, in
Richmond at the age of 57 from complications associated with colon cancer.
[4]
[1]
[20]
Awards and honors
The Association of Writers and Writing Programs Intro Award, 1991
[18]
Academy of American Poets Prize, 1991
[18]
National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1994 (As Claudia Emerson Andrews)
[22]
Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, 1995 and 2002
[18]
University of Mary Washington Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Award, 2003
[18]
Erskine J. Poetry Prize, 2004 for "Second Bearing, 1919"
[23]
Witter Bynner Fellowship from
Library of Congress , 2005
[24]
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 2006
[25]
Poet Laureate of Virginia , 2008–2010
[15]
[26]
Library of Virginia ,
Virginia Women in History , 2009
[27]
Fellowship of Southern Writers , Inaugural Winner, Donald Justice Award for Poetry, 2009
[28]
Guggenheim Fellowship , 2011
[29]
Elected to Membership,
Fellowship of Southern Writers , 2011
[30]
Bibliography
Poetry collections
List of poems
Title
Year
First published
Reprinted/collected
Early elegy : barber
2013
Emerson, Claudia (January 28, 2013).
"Early elegy : barber" .
The New Yorker . Vol. 88, no. 45. p. 36. Retrieved April 8, 2015 .
References
^
a
b
c
d
e
"Claudia Emerson" , Academy of American Poets , 2014, retrieved December 4, 2014
^
"Claudia Emerson profile" . poetryfoundation.org . Retrieved December 4, 2014 .
^
"Claudia Emerson Wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry" . PBS NewsHour . Archived from
the original on January 21, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2017 .
^
a
b Estes, Lindley (2014),
"Distinguished poet, Pulitzer Prize-winner Claudia Emerson dies" , The Free Lance-Star , retrieved December 4, 2014
^ Ankrom, R. (2008),
"Claudia Emerson – Poet-in-Residence '08" , Chatham Hall , archived from
the original on December 7, 2014, retrieved December 4, 2014
^
"Impossible Bottle" . Website . LSU Press. Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^
Yellow Shoe Poets . LSU Press. 1999.
ISBN
978-0-8071-2451-2 .
^ Garrett, George (1999).
The Yellow Shoe Poets (Cloth) (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press. p. 264.
ISBN
0-8071-2450-8 . Retrieved April 28, 2006 .
^
The Made Thing . The University of Arkansas Press. 1999. p.
13 .
ISBN
978-1-55728-579-9 .
^ Stokesbury, Leon (1999).
The Made Thing (Cloth) (2nd ed.). Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press. p.
352 pp .
ISBN
1-55728-578-0 .
^
Strongly Spent: 50 Years of Shenandoah Poetry [
permanent dead link ] , news.wlu.edu; accessed December 4, 2014.
^ Kennedy, Sarah (September 2003).
Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia (1st ed.). Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press.
ISBN
0-8139-2222-4 . Archived from
the original (Cloth) on September 28, 2011. Retrieved December 4, 2014 .
^
"Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Literary Review staff" . Website . Washington and Lee University. Retrieved April 7, 2006 .
^ Davis, Tim (December 4, 2014).
"Former Virginia poet laureate, Chatham native Claudia Emerson dies" . Star-Tribune . Retrieved March 29, 2022 .
^
a
b
"Virginia" . loc.gov .
^
"Poets Laureate of Virginia" . Archived from
the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved December 6, 2014 . , Poetry Society of Virginia; accessed December 6, 2014
^
Emerson profile
Archived December 7, 2014, at the
Wayback Machine , ChathamHall.org; accessed December 4, 2014.
^
a
b
c
d
e
"UMW's Claudia Emerson wins Pulitzer in Poetry" (Press release). University of Mary Washington. April 17, 2006. Archived from
the original on September 6, 2006. Retrieved April 27, 2006 .
^
"VCU Adds Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet to English Faculty" (Press release). Virginia Commonwealth University. June 20, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2014 .
^
a
b Reid, Zachary (2014),
"Claudia Emerson, Pulitzer-winning poet, dies at 57" , Richmond Times-Dispatch , retrieved December 4, 2014
^
"Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase" . Website . Webliminal.com. Retrieved December 19, 2006 .
^ Stolls, Amy; David Kipen; Jon Peede; Paulette Beete; Campbell Irving; Pamela Kirkpatrick; Garrick Davis (2006).
NEA Literature Fellowships: 40 Years of Supporting American Writers (PDF) . Washington, DC: National Endowment for the Arts. p. 12. Archived from
the original (PDF) on July 10, 2009. Retrieved April 27, 2006 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (December 4, 2014).
"Second Bearing, 1919" . Smartish Pace . Archived from
the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^
"Witter Bynner Fellowships" . Website . Library of Congress. Retrieved April 7, 2006 .
^
"The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Poetry" . Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^
The Poetry Society of Virginia official website
Archived July 26, 2011, at the
Wayback Machine
^
"Virginia Women in History: Claudia Emerson" . Library of Virginia. 2009. Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^
"Awards" . Fellowship of Southern Writers. 2009. Archived from
the original on March 4, 2007. Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^
"Claudia Emerson: 2011 – US & Canada Competition -Creative Arts – Poetry" . John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 2011. Archived from
the original on December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^ Brady, H. (March 21, 2011).
"Claudia Emerson to Be Inducted into Fellowship of Southern Writers" . Media and Public Relations . University of Mary Washington. Retrieved December 6, 2014 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (2002).
Pinion: An Elegy (Cloth) (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press. p. 55 pp.
ISBN
0-8071-2765-5 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (September 30, 2005).
The Late Wife (Cloth) (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press. p. 54 pp.
ISBN
0-8071-3083-4 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (September 2008). Figure Studies (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press.
ISBN
978-0-8071-3361-3 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (February 2012). Secure the Shadow (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press.
ISBN
978-0-8071-4303-2 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (March 2015). The Opposite House (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press.
ISBN
978-0-8071-5848-7 .
^ Emerson, Claudia (September 2015). Impossible Bottle (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press.
ISBN
978-0-8071-6083-1 .
External links
Official website
[1] Website for LSU Press with links to pages for books published
[2]
Academy of American Poets Biography, bibliography and links to poems
[3]
Poetry Foundation Biography and links to poems and articles published in
Poetry (magazine)
Emerson, Claudia
Insistent Places
Southern Spaces , October 26, 2009
Claudia Emerson Papers at the
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the
University of Virginia
Pulitzer Prize website , Emerson profile
Library of Congress reading (mp3 format file) Interview and poems
Kooser, Ted ,
American Life in Poetry: Column 26—Claudia Emerson's poem "Stable"
Archived April 2, 2015, at the
Wayback Machine Emerson's poems "Migrane, Aura and Aftermath" and "What They Want" in Visions International (issue #67)
Williams, Susan Settlemyre, "Review | Pinion: An Elegy, by Claudia Emerson", Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts , Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 1, No. 2 December 16, 2002
Cheuse, Alan ,
Radio interview with Claudia Emerson on With Good Reason , Virginia Commission for the Humanities, May 22, 2004.
Bryne, Edward. "Everything We Cannot See: Claudia Emerson's Late Wife " .
Martz, Michael, "Chatham Adds To Literary Legacy" April 26, 2006 (originally published as "Pulitzer-winning poet from Chatham Virginia: Professor latest with ties to town to bask in literary glory," in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April 20, 2006).
Williams, Susan Settlemyre, "An Interview with Claudia Emerson, Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts , Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 1, No 2 December 16, 2002, transcript and audio file.
Williams, Susan Settlemyre, "Review | Pinion: An Elegy, by Claudia Emerson", Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts , Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 1, No. 2 December 16, 2002
Emerson, Claudia,
"Poems: The Bat, Pitching Horseshoes, Possessions, Surface Hunting", Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts , Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 2, No. 1, (Spring, 2003)
Chappell, Fred ,
"Same mine yields different gems," Raleigh News and Observer review of The Late Wife on December 25, 2005.
Fellowship of Southern Writers Members Profile page
"Poets in Person: Claudia Emerson"
Archived October 11, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine , HD Video in Fredericksburg, VA with Claudia and husband musician Kent Ippolito, The Cortland Review – Spring 2012 Feature, April 8, 2012.
"Shot Her Dead"
Archived July 30, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine , an original song performed by Claudia Emerson and Kent Ippolito, The Cortland Review – Spring 2012 Feature, April 8, 2012.
5 new poems in text and audio
Archived October 11, 2012, at the
Wayback Machine , The Cortland Review – Spring 2012 Feature, April 8, 2012.
Reid, Zachary, "2 Pulitzer Prize poetry winners to read at VCU event Wednesday" , Richmond Times-Dispatch , September 14, 2014.
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