David Orr (born 1974) is an American journalist, attorney, and poet who is noted for his reviews and essays on
poetry
Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...
.
Orr grew up in
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the cit ...
.
He earned a bachelor's degree in English literature from
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...
in 1996,
and subsequently a
J.D. degree from
Yale Law School
Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...
. While still a law student, Orr published a review in ''
Poetry Magazine
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundati ...
''. While practicing law, Orr has written reviews and essays for ''
Poetry Magazine
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundati ...
'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and other periodicals. Orr was awarded the 2004 Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing of the
National Book Critics Circle
The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) with more than 700 members. It is the professional association of American book review editors and critics, known primarily for the National Book Critics C ...
. In 2005 he became a columnist for the ''
New York Times Sunday Review of Books
''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...
'', where his ''On Poetry'' column appears occasionally.
He was the Hodder Fellow at Princeton University in 2006-2007.
Several of Orr's poems have been published in ''
Poetry Magazine
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by Harriet Monroe, it is now published by the Poetry Foundati ...
''. In 2011 he published ''Beautiful & Pointless: A Guide to Modern Poetry'', of which Craig Morgan Teicher has written, "David Orr, the ''New York Times Book Reviews poetry columnist as well as a poet, is a guide after my own heart as he seeks not just to initiate the uninitiated in his new book, ''Beautiful & Pointless'', but also to hold a mirror up to the poetry world itself."
Further reading
* Recommended as exemplary by Edward Champion.
* This article was a response to Dana Goodyear's article in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'' about
Ruth Lilly
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
's $200 million bequest to the
Poetry Foundation
The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from '' Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist ...
. The bequest, the Poetry Foundation's response to it, and the articles by Goodyear and Orr have been controversial.
* Example of Orr's occasional column, ''On Poetry'', from ''The New York Times Sunday Book Review''.
* Television program featuring
Sam Tanenhaus
Sam Tanenhaus (born October 31, 1955) is an American historian, biographer, and journalist. He currently is a writer for ''Prospect''.
Early years
Tanenhaus received his B.A. in English from Grinnell College in 1977 and a M.A. in English Litera ...
(editor of the ''New York Times Book Review'') as guest host, Alice Quinn (editor of Elizabeth Bishop's unpublished poetry), and Orr in a discussion of Bishop's poetry and life.
References
External links
* Author website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orr, David
Princeton University alumni
Living people
1974 births
Yale Law School alumni
American male poets
American male journalists
21st-century American poets
21st-century American male writers