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William Carlos William (1883–1963)

Author of Selected Poems

178+ Works 8,183 Members 58 Reviews 43 Favorited

About the Author

Poet, artist, and practicing physician of Rutherford, New Jersey, William Carlos Williams wrote poetry that was experimental in form, ranging from imagism to objectivism, with great originality of idiom and human vitality. Credited with changing and directing American poetry toward a new metric and show more language, he also wrote a large number of short stories and novels. Paterson (1946--58), about the New Jersey city of that name, was his epic and places him with Ezra Pound of the Cantos as one of the great shapers of the long poem in this century. National recognition did not come early, but eventually Williams received many honors, including a vice-presidency of the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1952); the Bollingen Prize (1953); the $5,000 fellowship of the Academy of American Poets; the Loines Award for poetry of the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1948); and the Brandeis Award (1957). Book II of Paterson received the first National Book Award for poetry in 1949. Williams was named consultant in poetry in English to the Library of Congress for 1952--53. Williams's continuously inventive style anchored not only objectivism, the school to which he most properly belongs, but also a long line of subsequent poets as various as Robert Lowell, Frank O'Hara, and Allen Ginsberg. With Stevens, he forms one of the most important sources of a specifically American tradition of modernism. In addition to his earlier honors, Williams received two important awards posthumously, the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1963) and the Gold Medal for Poetry from the National Institute of Arts and Letters (1963). (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: From Wikipedia

Series

Works by William Carlos William

Selected Poems (1985) 1,181 copies
Paterson (1946) 1,002 copies
In the American Grain (1925) 516 copies
The Doctor Stories (1984) 328 copies
Imaginations (1971) 300 copies
White Mule (1967) 126 copies
Early Poems (1997) 105 copies
Death the Barber (2018) 62 copies
In the Money (1940) 61 copies
Build-Up (1952) 56 copies
The Great American Novel (1973) 41 copies
Embodiment of Knowledge (1974) 33 copies
A Voyage to Pagany (1970) 27 copies
Sour Grapes A Book of Poems (2004) 18 copies
The Tempers (2007) 14 copies
The Use of Force 13 copies
Journey to love (1955) 13 copies
Selected Poems (1985) 12 copies
Poemas (1985) 8 copies
Cuentos completos (2000) 7 copies
Antologia Breve 6 copies
The broken span (1941) 6 copies
Poesía reunida (2017) 6 copies
The Pink Church 4 copies
Paterson Book Five (1958) 4 copies
Love 4 copies
Paterson (Book One) (1946) 3 copies
John Marin (1956) 3 copies
Poesie 3 copies
Spóźniony śpiewak (2009) 3 copies
Gedichte (1999) 3 copies
Poetry (2020) 3 copies
Poèmes (2001) 3 copies
Even dit gedichten (2006) 3 copies
Scènes et portraits (2023) 2 copies
Paterson, Book 3 (1949) 2 copies
The Wedge 2 copies
Dikter (1974) 2 copies
Paterson (Book Four) (1951) 2 copies
The Dance 1 copy
La Mule blanche (1992) 1 copy
Die Romane (2001) 1 copy
New Republic 1 copy
Filles de fermiers (2011) 1 copy
Paterson (Book Two) (1940) 1 copy
Many Loves 1 copy
New Directions Eleven (1949) 1 copy
The Clouds 1 copy
White Women (1997) 1 copy
Seçme Şiirler (2019) 1 copy
Viaje al amor (2009) 1 copy
The cod head 1 copy
Sappho 1 copy

Associated Works

Howl and Other Poems (1956) — Introduction — 5,533 copies
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,254 copies
The Poems of Francois Villon (1960) — Introduction, some editions — 1,045 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Oxford Book of American Short Stories (1992) — Contributor — 743 copies
Short Story Masterpieces (1954) — Contributor — 675 copies
The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (1999) — Contributor — 593 copies
The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis (2001) — Contributor — 545 copies
A Pocket Book of Modern Verse (1954) — Contributor, some editions — 443 copies
Fifty Great American Short Stories (1965) — Contributor — 430 copies
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology (1992) — Contributor — 388 copies
City Lights Pocket Poets Anthology (1995) — Contributor — 352 copies
Baseball: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 335 copies
The Faber Book of Modern Verse (1936) — Contributor, some editions — 284 copies
The 40s: The Story of a Decade (2014) — Contributor — 275 copies
Writing New York: A Literary Anthology (1998) — Contributor — 275 copies
The Literary Cat (1977) — Contributor — 241 copies
Howl, Kaddish and Other Poems (Penguin Modern Classics) (1980) — Introduction, some editions — 221 copies
The Art of Losing (2010) — Contributor — 197 copies
Last Nights Of Paris (1928) — Translator, some editions — 164 copies
American Religious Poems: An Anthology (2006) — Contributor — 162 copies
Imagist Poetry (Penguin Modern Classics) (1972) — Contributor — 160 copies
Writers at Work 03 (1967) — Interviewee — 142 copies
The Faber Book of Beasts (1997) — Contributor — 140 copies
Imagist Poetry: An Anthology (1999) — Contributor — 137 copies
The Norton Book of Travel (1987) — Contributor — 110 copies
Emergency Kit (1996) — Contributor, some editions — 108 copies
The Imagist Poem (1963) — Contributor, some editions — 101 copies
Twentieth-Century American Poetry (1777) — Contributor — 96 copies
A Life in Medicine: A Literary Anthology (2002) — Contributor — 81 copies
Gods and Mortals: Modern Poems on Classical Myths (1684) — Contributor — 68 copies
Surrealist Painters and Poets: An Anthology (2001) — Contributor — 67 copies
The Hungry Ear: Poems of Food and Drink (2012) — Contributor — 63 copies
The Norton Anthology of Latino Literature (2010) — Contributor — 58 copies
Art of Fiction (1967) — Contributor — 51 copies
Lament for the Makers: A Memorial Anthology (1996) — Contributor — 49 copies
The Ecopoetry Anthology (2013) — Contributor — 48 copies
Empty mirror; early poems (1961) — Introduction, some editions — 48 copies
The Experience of the American Woman (1978) — Contributor — 46 copies
A Quarto of Modern Literature (1935) — Contributor — 39 copies
American short novels (1960) — Contributor — 30 copies
60 Years of American Poetry (1996) — Contributor — 28 copies
American short stories, 1820 to the present (1952) — Contributor — 26 copies
The Roman Sonnets of Giuseppe Gioachino Belli (1960) — some editions — 25 copies
One World of Literature (1992) — Contributor — 24 copies
William Carlos Williams: A Collection of Critical Essays (1966) — Contributor, some editions — 22 copies
Studies in Fiction (1965) — Contributor — 22 copies
The Looking Glass Book of Stories (1960) — Contributor — 21 copies
Twentieth-Century American Short Stories: An Anthology (1975) — Contributor — 17 copies
20th Century American Short Stories, Volume 1 (1995) — Contributor — 16 copies
Poetry in Crystal (1963) — Contributor — 15 copies
Leaves of Grass One Hundred Years After (1955) — Contributor — 14 copies
Des Imagistes: An Anthology (1914) — Contributor — 11 copies
Of Leaf and Flower: Stories and Poems for Gardeners (2001) — Contributor — 11 copies
Great Tales of City Dwellers (1955) — Contributor — 8 copies
The Short Story & You (1987) — Contributor — 7 copies
Case-Record from a Sonnetorium (1951) — Contributor — 6 copies
Jean Sans Terre (1936) — Translator, some editions — 5 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 2, October 1977 (1977) — Contributor — 4 copies
The Paris Review 32 1964 Summer-Fall (1964) — Contributor — 4 copies
Wives and Lovers — Contributor — 3 copies
Enjoying Stories (1987) — Contributor — 2 copies
THE GOLDEN GOOSE. NUMBER ONE. SUMMER 1948 (1948) — Contributor — 1 copy
Stories of Sudden Truth (1953) — Contributor — 1 copy
The PL book of modern American short stories (1945) — Contributor — 1 copy
Direction Vol.1 No.3 (April-June 1935) — Contributor — 1 copy
The Best of American Poetry [Audio] (1997) — Contributor — 1 copy
Contact collection of contemporary writers — Contributor, some editions — 1 copy
Direction, Vol 1 No 1 (Autumn 1934) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

20th century (322) America (62) American (321) American literature (445) American poetry (181) anthology (1,177) baseball (98) beat (286) Beat Generation (102) cats (100) classics (60) collection (118) English (62) essays (199) fiction (759) French (83) French literature (87) history (110) Library of America (160) literary criticism (104) literature (719) modernism (120) New Directions (62) New York (60) non-fiction (317) own (94) poems (120) poetics (56) poetry (6,135) poetry anthology (96) read (146) reference (76) short stories (487) textbook (74) to-read (851) travel (52) unread (83) USA (103) William Carlos Williams (91) writing (108)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
William, William Carlos
Birthdate
1883-09-17
Date of death
1963-03-04
Burial location
Hillside Cemetery, Lyndhurst, New Jersey, USA
Gender
male
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
Place of death
Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
Places of residence
Paterson, New Jersey, USA
New York, New York, USA
Rutherford, New Jersey, USA
Paris, France
Switzerland
Education
Lycée Condorcet, Paris, France
Horace Mann High School, New York
University of Pennsylvania (MD|1906)
University of Leipzig (postgraduate study)
Occupations
physician
poet
novelist
short-story writer
essayist
playwright (show all 9)
translator
lyricist
librettist
Relationships
Williams, Raquel Helene (mother)
Pound, Ezra (friend)
H. D. (friend)
Organizations
The Imagists
American Academy of Arts and Letters
National Institute of Arts and Letters
Academy of American Poets
Bergen County New Jersey Medical Association
Bread Loaf School of English (show all 7)
Passaic General Hospital
Awards and honors
Pulitzer Prize (1963)
Gold Medal for Poetry, National Institute of Arts and Letters (1963)
Bollingen Prize (1953)
Dial Award (1926)
Levinson Prize (1954)
National Book Award for Poetry (1950) (show all 18)
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (1952)
Oscar Blumenthal Prize (1955)
Russell Loines Memorial Award for poetry from National Institute of Arts and Letters (1948)
Guarantors Prize (1931)
Fellowship, Academy of American Poets (1956)
Brandeis University creative arts medal (1958)
New Jersey Hall of Fame (2009)
LL.D., University of Buffalo
LL.D., Fairleigh Dickinson University
Litt.D., Rutgers University
Litt.D., Bard College
Litt.D., University of Pennsylvania

Members

Reviews

I never know how to review a book of poetry. I learned in the preface that the five books that make up Paterson were originally published in separate volumes in 1946, 1948, 1949, 1951, and 1958, and that through the various printings of the work, the text changed. In this 1992 edition, all five books were collected, and the editor studied all the manuscripts, galleys, and proof pages to decide which versions to include. Anyway, Paterson is a city near me in New Jersey, and also near where William Carlos Williams lived. Its main geographical feature is the Great Falls on the Passaic River, which looms above the city, and the books of the poem metaphorically follow the course of that river as it meanders through northern New Jersey and then ultimately out to the sea. The poetry is both about the city of Paterson but also about Williams's life and the history of the whole region. No wonder it is such a masterpiece! This edition, edited by Christopher MacGowan, has lots of interesting footnotes and explanatory material. I first read this poem in my teens before I ever moved to New Jersey and became familiar with these places. My own experiences and the notes helped make it so much more.… (more)
 
Flagged
bschweiger | 7 other reviews | Feb 4, 2024 |
I need to read this book again. I first read it and I fell in love with William Carlos Williams. This is work of literary criticism (which often philosophizes) threaded with some of the best poetry. Here you find Williams’s ethos open and bare. I found it exquisite like an oyster. I think I ate it with the same spoon too. The reprinting by New Directions Publishing as an object in itself is profound. I will read it again and I will have more to say.
 
Flagged
Aidan767 | 2 other reviews | Feb 1, 2024 |
Reading Books I-IV (especially Book II) was the most exciting, energetic, and formally refreshing reading experience I've had, I think, ever. I haven't been this convinced on the merits and distinctions of poetry since I read Ondaatje's The Collected Poems of Billy the Kid. Paterson feels like something one re-enters half a dozen times in their lifetime. I feel like carrying it around like a bible.
1 vote
Flagged
biblioclair | 7 other reviews | Jun 20, 2023 |
This Is Just To Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

William Carlos Williams

- - -

A small collection of poems by William Carlos Williams. Due to my low control of English, I was scared by the size and complexity of the actual books of him (like Paterson or others), so I guess this was the right choice for starting to appreciate the simple, clear grace of this amazing poet.
… (more)
 
Flagged
d.v. | May 16, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
178
Also by
101
Members
8,183
Popularity
#2,956
Rating
4.0
Reviews
58
ISBNs
242
Languages
11
Favorited
43

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