Pinsky, Robert Neal
Born: October 20, 1940, in Long Branch, New Jersey
Vocations: Critic, Historian, Poet, Professor, Translator
Geographic Connection to Pennsylvania: Telford, Montgomery County

Keywords: American Academy of Arts and Letters Award; Boston University; The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966-1996; Guggenheim fellow; Howard Morton Landon Prize for Translation; The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse of Translation; Montgomery County Poet Laureate Contest; Poet Laureate; Pulitzer Prize; Rutgers University; Stanford University; University of California at Berkeley; University of Chicago; Wellesley College

Abstract: Robert Pinsky, U.S. Poet Laureate from 1997 to 2000, was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, on October 20, 1940. The first person in his family to attend college, Pinsky earned a B.A. from Rutgers University and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. Robert Pinsky has published six books of poetry, including the critically acclaimed translation The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse of Translation. In 2000, he served as the celebrity judge for the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program. Pinsky, who resides in Massachusetts, shares three grown daughters with his wife, Ellen.

Biography:

Robert Pinsky was born on October 20, 1940, in Long Branch, New Jersey. Even as a child, Pinsky was conscious of his love for the arts. His father, Milford Simon, was an optician. Sylvia, his mother, wanted her son to become an optician, too. Instead, Robert became the first person in his family to go to college. While attending Rutgers University, Pinsky copied his favorite poem—William Butler Yeats’ “Sailing to Byzantium”—by hand, and taped it to his wall for inspiration. In 1961 Robert married Ellen Jane Bailey, a clinical psychologist. Over the course of the next ten years, the Pinsky family would add three daughters—Nicole, Caroline Rose, and Elizabeth. Upon graduation in 1962, Pinsky enrolled in graduate school at Stanford University in California. After receiving his Ph.D. from Stanford, he returned to the East Coast to teach at Wellesley College from 1968 to 1980. In 1980 he trekked back to California to join the English Department at The University of California at Berkeley.

Pinsky’s first volume of poetry, Sadness and Happiness, published in 1975, further intrigued him to examine literary compositions. In an attempt to explain his unique approach to writing poetry, Robert Pinsky published extensive volumes of literary criticism, including The Situation of Poetry: Contemporary Poetry in Its Traditions, Poetry and the World, and The Sounds of Poetry. Published in 1976, The Situation of Poetry articulates Pinsky’s need to “find a language for presenting the role of a conscious soul in an unconscious world.” Pinsky’s approach to poetry incorporates psychological insight, historical accounts, and even comedic relief.

Pinsky’s love of knowledge and desire to create led him to publish his most famous poem in 1994, The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation. This book enthralled Pinsky who said, “I literally could not stop working on it.” He worked obsessively, writing until the point of sleep. “We have pillowcases stained with ink where my wife took the pen out of my hand at night.” Inferno ended up on the best-sellers list. New Yorker contributor Edward Hirsch said, “The primary strength of this translation is the way it maintains the original’s episodic and narrative velocity while mirroring its formal shape and character. It is no small achievement to reproduce Dante’s rhyme scheme and at the same time sound fresh and natural in English, and Pinsky succeeds in creating a supple American equivalent for Dante’s vernacular music where many others have failed.” Inferno received both The Los Angeles Times Book Review Award and the Howard Morton Landon Prize for Translation in 1995. Pinsky’s masterpiece furthered his successful career in writing, and earned him his next job: Poet Laureate of the United States.

Librarian of Congress James H. Billington appointed Robert Pinsky to be the ninth Poet Laureate and the country’s 39th Consultant in Poetry in 1997. The position of Poet Laureate requires recipients to complete an annual lecture on their poetry as well as introduce poets in the Library’s annual poetry series (among the oldest in the country). In addition, the Laureate is expected to raise public awareness of poetry through programs and country-wide projects. The energetic Pinsky was elated to receive the title of Poet Laureate for three consecutive terms; “American poetry has been one of our national achievements. Along with the honor of following the American poets who have held this post, I have an opportunity to continue our appreciation of that treasure. I am very pleased.”

In 1997, Pinsky also started “The Favorite Poem Program.” Now compiled on an internet database, the program initially invited 100 average Americans to read their favorite poetry and have it recorded for the official archives of the Library of Congress. The program was a huge success, receiving over 18,000 submissions and attracting people from all walks of life. During his final year as Poet Laureate of the United States, Pinsky served as the celebrity judge for the selection of the Poet Laureate for Montgomery County. Founded in 1999 by Joanne Leva, a resident of Lansdale, Pennsylvania, each year the Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program selects a local poet to write and read poems for county events in the coming year. Three other poets, including the celebrity judge, select the winner by identifying and ranking the top 25 poems submitted by all the applicants.

At age 64, Robert Pinsky, a self-proclaimed email addict, currently serves as poetry editor for Slate, an online weekly Internet magazine. Unable to quell his love of the east coast, Robert left Berkley in 1988 to take a position at Boston University in the English department. He now teaches a poetry workshop for graduate students. During the baseball season, he can be spotted at Fenway Park cheering on the Boston Red Sox. Mr. Pinsky and his wife Ellen reside in Newton Corner, Massachusetts.

Works:

Poetry

• Sadness and Happiness. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1975.
• An Explanation of America. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1979.
• History of My Heart. New York: Ecco Press, 1984.
• The Inferno of Dante: A New Verse Translation. (translator) New York: Farrar, Strauss, 1994.
• The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems, 1966-1996. New York: Farrar, Strauss, 1996
• Jersey Rain. New York: Farrar, Strauss, 2000.

Criticism

• Landor’s Poetry. Chicago: Chicago UP, 1968.
• The Situation of Poetry: Contemporary Poetry and Its Traditions. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1976
• Poetry and the World. New York: Ecco Press, 1988.

Sources:

• Beck, Molly. “The Montgomery County Poet Laureate Program.” 2005. 23 Apr. 2005. <http://gargoyle.arcadia.edu/english/poetry/index.htm>.
• Blumenthal, Ralph. “A New Poet Laureate at Home with Dante, the Internet and Sometimes Both.” New York Times. 28 Mar. 1997. 25 Feb. 2005. <http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.libraries.psu.edu>.
• “Former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky (1997-2000).” The Poetry and Literary Center of the Library of Congress. 25 Feb. 2005. <http://www.loc.gov/poetry/laureate/html>.
• Mehren, Elizabeth. “The Meter is Running.” Los Angeles Times. 10 June 1997. 25 Feb. 2005. <http://galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.libraries.psu.edu>.
• “Robert Pinsky Bio.” The Gale Literary Database: Contemporary Authors Online. 28 Oct. 2003. 25 Feb. 2005. <http://www.galenet.com>.
• “Robert Pinsky Bio.” The Academy of American Poets. 2005. 25 Feb. 2005. <http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442b7c000c04050D.html>.

For More Information:

• “Poem.” Robert Pinsky: <http://www.slate.com>.
• Creative Writing Program at Boston University. <http://www.bu.edu/writing/pinsky.html>.

This biography was prepared by Kimberly Phillips, Spring 2005.