Philip Levine (1928–2015)
Author of What Work Is
About the Author
Philip Levine was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 10, 1928. Starting at the age of 14, he held a series of industrial jobs including working in a soap factory, hefting cases of soft drinks at a bottling plant, manning a punch press at Chevrolet Gear and Axle, and operating a jackhammer at show more Detroit Transmission. He received bachelor's and master's degrees in English from Wayne State University and a master of fine arts from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. His first collection of poetry, On the Edge, was published in 1961. His other poetry collections included 1933, Not This Pig, They Feed They Lion, A Walk with Tom Jefferson, The Mercy, and Breath. He won numerous awards during his lifetime including the 1977 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for The Names of the Lost, the 1979 National Book Critics Circle Award for Ashes: Poems New and Old and 7 Years from Somewhere, the 1987 Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize for his body of work, the National Book Award for Ashes: Poems New and Old in 1980 and for What Work Is in 1991, and a Pulitzer Prize in 1995 for The Simple Truth. He was appointed the Library of Congress 18th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2011 to 2012. His poetry appeared in several publications including The New Yorker and Harper's Magazine. He also published a collection of autobiographical essays entitled Bread of Time and edited an anthology entitled The Essential Keats. He died of pancreatic cancer on February 14, 2015 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Frances Levine
Works by Philip Levine
Naming 4 copies
Dreaming in Swedish 2 copies
Smoke 2 copies
Peter's Gift 1 copy
Set poemes = Seven poems 1 copy
Blue 1 copy
Cuatro poemas 1 copy
The Poem of Chalk 1 copy
A History of My Befuddlement (The Judith Lee Stronach Memorial Lecture on the Teaching of Poetry) (2010) 1 copy
Ask For Nothing 1 copy
Associated Works
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,468 copies, 9 reviews
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 1,012 copies, 7 reviews
A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (1996) — Contributor — 942 copies, 12 reviews
Lost Classics: Writers on Books Loved and Lost, Overlooked, Under-read, Unavailable, Stolen, Extinct, or Otherwise Out of Commission (2000) — Contributor — 320 copies, 6 reviews
This Is My Best: Great Writers Share Their Favorite Work (2004) — Contributor — 175 copies, 3 reviews
My Favorite Plant: Writers and Gardeners on the Plants They Love (1998) — Contributor — 100 copies, 1 review
About Women: An Anthology of Contemporary Fiction, Poetry, and Essays (1973) — Contributor — 25 copies
Run Home If You Don't Want to Be Killed: The Detroit Uprising of 1943 (2021) — Contributor — 13 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Levine, Philip
- Birthdate
- 1928-01-10
- Date of death
- 2015-02-14
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Wayne State University (BA | 1950 | MA | 1954)
University of Iowa Writers' Workshop (MFA | 1957) - Occupations
- poet
professor - Organizations
- California State University, Fresno (professor)
- Awards and honors
- Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1987)
American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award (1973)
Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (2011-2012)
Wallace Stevens Award (2013)
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1995)
National Book Award for Poetry (1980) (show all 7)
American Academy of Arts and Letters (Literature ∙ 1997) - Relationships
- Cohen, Andrea (student)
- Cause of death
- pancreatic cancer
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Places of residence
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York, New York, USA
Fresno, California, USA - Place of death
- Fresno, California, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
He is one of my favorite poets and yet I found myself surprised and delighted by his homage to his mentor John Berryman and his portrait of Yvor Winters. Also the history of his days in Spain on Sabbatical from Fresno State where he taught for many years. There are few that can manage such honesty, the voice is direct, humble, vulnerable and yet strong as the heartland. Must read
My Lost Poets is one of the most wonderful books on poetry, writing and literature that I have ever read. Philip Levine, in his quiet, humble and unassuming way, demonstrates what made him one of America's great poets. His stories of Thom Gunn and John Berryman, his sweet praise of Roberta Spear and Larry Levis, and the history of poetry in the Spanish Civil War, as well as his own history of how he came to be a poet, make this an extraordinary collection of essays. It also makes me very sad show more that Philip Levine is no longer here to write. show less
What is it that I love so much about these poems? A haunting lingeringness--that touches me more for the feel I get and for what it evokes--the air of pathos that is so Michigan, so Detroit, therefore a feeling irreplaceable for me. Of course, this all owes to the quality of a writer Levine is.
Favorites:
Coming of Age in Michigan
What Work Is
M. Degas Teaches Art & Science at Durfee Intermediate School
Favorites:
Coming of Age in Michigan
What Work Is
M. Degas Teaches Art & Science at Durfee Intermediate School
Levine brings a gentle narrative observation to his poems, simple scenes that reveal the power and mystery of the everyday, sometimes in memory, sometimes lamenting, sometimes rejoicing... "...Instead I was born/ in the wrong year and in the wrong place,/ and I made my way so slowly and badly/ that I remember every single turn,/ and each one smells like an overblown rose,/ yellow, American, beautiful, and true." (Brian)
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 55
- Also by
- 39
- Members
- 1,896
- Popularity
- #13,577
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 19
- ISBNs
- 70
- Languages
- 1
- Favorited
- 11
