William Stafford (1) (1914–1993)
Author of The Way It Is: New and Selected Poems
For other authors named William Stafford, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
William Edgar Stafford was born in Hutchinson, Kansas on January 17, 1914. He received a B.A. in 1937 and a master's degree in English in 1947 from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1954. During the Second World War, he was a conscientious objector and worked in show more the civilian public service camps. He wrote about this experience in the prose memoir Down in My Heart, which was published in 1947. He taught at Lewis and Clark College from 1948 until his retirement in 1980. During his lifetime, he published more than sixty-five volumes of poetry and prose including The Rescued Year, Stories That Could Be True: New and Collected Poems, Writing the Australian Crawl: Views on the Writer's Vocation, and An Oregon Message. He received several awards including a Shelley Memorial Award, a Western States Lifetime Achievement Award in Poetry, and the National Book Award in 1963 for Traveling Through the Dark. In 1970, he was the Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (a position currently known as the Poet Laureate). He died on August 28, 1993. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: KIM STAFFORD
Works by William Stafford
The Answers Are Inside the Mountains: Meditations on the Writing Life (Poets on Poetry) (2003) 36 copies
Sound of the Ax: Aphorisms and Poems by William Stafford (Pitt Poetry Series) (2014) 21 copies, 1 review
Five American Poets — Contributor — 3 copies
Unknown Good in Our Enemies: William Stafford Reads Poems of Reconciliation [Compact Disc CD] (2003) 1 copy
Hearing Voices — Author — 1 copy
A Glass Face in the Rain 1 copy
Absolution 1 copy
All About Light 1 copy
Sleeping at a Friend's House 1 copy
Associated Works
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 1,017 copies, 7 reviews
A Book of Luminous Things: An International Anthology of Poetry (1996) — Contributor — 945 copies, 12 reviews
Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach (2003) — Contributor — 225 copies, 1 review
The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind, and Soul (2017) 198 copies, 5 reviews
Poetry Speaks Expanded: Hear Poets Read Their Own Work from Tennyson to Plath (2007) — Contributor — 158 copies, 2 reviews
Leading from Within: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Lead (2007) — Contributor — 116 copies, 3 reviews
War No More: Three Centuries of American Antiwar and Peace Writing (2016) — Contributor — 111 copies, 2 reviews
Editor's Choice II: Fiction, Poetry & Art from the U.S. Small Press, 1978 to 1983 (Contemporary Anthology Series) (1987) — Contributor — 6 copies
Poems by Ghalib — Translator — 2 copies
Dacotah territory 5 summer-fall 1973 — Contributor — 1 copy
The North Dakota quarterly : vol. 50, no 4, Fall 1982 — Contributor — 1 copy
The New York quarterly : NYQ : Number 35, Spring 1988 — Contributor — 1 copy
Out of Sight *90: A Primer of Domestic Poetry — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Stafford, William Edgar
- Other names
- Stafford, William E.
- Birthdate
- 1914-01-17
- Date of death
- 1993-08-28
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Kansas
University of Iowa - Occupations
- professor
poet - Organizations
- Fellowship of Reconciliation
Civilian Public Service
Church of the Brethren
Lewis & Clark College
Manchester College - Awards and honors
- Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (1970-1971)
Poet Laureate of Oregon (1975-1993)
Nation Book Award (1963)
Shelley Memorial Award (1963/1964)
Frost Medal (1992/1993)
American Academy of Arts and Letters Academy Award ( [1981]) (show all 7)
Western Literature Association's Distinguished Achievement Award (1976) - Relationships
- Stafford, Kim Robert (son)
Bly, Robert (friend) - Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Hutchinson, Kansas, USA
- Places of residence
- Liberal, Kansas, USA
North Manchester, Indiana, USA
Portland, Oregon, USA - Place of death
- Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
One of the things I have always admired about Bill Stafford is the gentle way he doesn't mince words. I found this appropriate in his reminiscences of a few episodes from his experience as CO during WWII. This book left a profound impression upon me (in conjunction with previous readings of Stafford's poetry). I am reading it during that dark night of the soul that is January 2021. How can you oppose violence and hatred effectively while yourself avoiding the psychology and emotion that is show more fueling them? How big can community truly be? Can even a small community that shares ultimate goals and outlooks still include those with elemental differences on the roots of those goals or the tactics best used to further them? Stafford puts human faces into these equations while delineating an environment that is in turn idyllic and horrific. For those who have read Stafford's poetry it will be no surprise that the writing is beautiful and simple. The descriptions of the mountains of Northern CA and fire fighting there are wonderful. They are of a piece with the philosophical and political quest that brought the author there. show less
I think you either like poetry or you don't. As it happens, I love it. There is never a time (so far) that I can't pick up a poem and read it. It doesn't matter who wrote it or what era it came from. I don't like them all, but I am always glad I read them. And my favorite poet of all time is William Stafford. He looked around our world and saw things that the rest of us walk carelessly past every day. Astounding things. He has opened my eyes to so much. I will be forever grateful for the day show more I found Fall Journey and took the time to read it. I've been stocking my shelves ever since. show less
I know I've read William Stafford's poetry before now, but this anthology of prose, poetry and interviews made me sit up and resolve to read everything by him I can find. The title is from a collection of short notes Stafford would jot down every morning; with his poems, they are the heart of his attraction for me. Here are two more:
"Success may not mean you did right"
"Today in society you need a tendency not to believe"
That latter one was written in 1987--still true, perhaps even more so.
"Success may not mean you did right"
"Today in society you need a tendency not to believe"
That latter one was written in 1987--still true, perhaps even more so.
I love William Stafford. "Traveling Through the Dark" is the poem that made me realize I could like poetry at all, and is also what got me started writing poetry. And I really enjoy this collection. But there are poems in it that aren't nearly as strong as others of his. There are poems here, in fact, that make me wonder what they were thinking when they put it together.
Still, it's a great introduction to Stafford if you're not familiar, and a nice collection even if you are show more familiar—something to keep in the bedside table or whatever, so that you can always reach over and pull one of Stafford's "golden threads." show less
Still, it's a great introduction to Stafford if you're not familiar, and a nice collection even if you are show more familiar—something to keep in the bedside table or whatever, so that you can always reach over and pull one of Stafford's "golden threads." show less
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Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 78
- Also by
- 40
- Members
- 2,069
- Popularity
- #12,420
- Rating
- 4.1
- Reviews
- 30
- ISBNs
- 136
- Favorited
- 6
