Eleanor Rand Wilner (born 1937) is an American

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

and

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

Life

Wilner obtained her bachelor's from

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

and her Ph.D. from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

. Her graduate dissertation concerned the topic of imagination and was later published as ''Gathering the Winds: Visionary Imagination and Radical Transformation of Self and Society'' (1975). She was editor of ''The American Poetry Review'' and she is Advisory Editor of ''Calyx''. She has taught at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, and

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's coll ...

. She is on the faculty of the MFA Program for Writers at

Warren Wilson College Warren Wilson College (WWC) is a private liberal arts college in Swannanoa, North Carolina. It is known for its curriculum that combines academics, work, and service as every student must complete a requisite course of study, work an on-campus ...

, and lives in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. In 2019, she won the

Robert Frost Medal The Poetry Society of America is a literary organization founded in 1910 by poets, editors, and artists. It is the oldest poetry organization in the United States. Past members of the society have included such renowned poets as Witter Bynner, Ro ...

, the Poetry Society of America's award for a "distinguished lifetime service to American poetry." She has been active in civil rights and peace movements.

Awards

(2019) *

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to between 20 and 30 indi ...

(1991) *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

fellowship * Juniper Prize * Pushcart Prizes (awarded twice)

Works

* ''Shekhinah'' (poems), University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL), 1984. * * * * ''The Girl with Bees in Her Hair'' (

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...

, 2004) * ''Tourist in Hell'' (University of Chicago Press, 2010)

Anthologies

* * * * * *

Translations

Non-fiction

"Poetry and the Pentagon: Unholy Alliance?", ''Poetry Foundation'', 3.2.06
* Gathering the Winds: Visionary Imagination and Radical Transformation of Self and Society, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 1975.

Awards

(2019) *

(1991) *

fellowship * Juniper Prize * Pushcart Prizes (awarded twice)

References

External links

"An E-view with Eleanor Wilner", ''The Drunken Boat", Rebecca Seiferle, 2000
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilner, Eleanor 1937 births Living people American women poets Goucher College alumni Johns Hopkins University alumni MacArthur Fellows National Endowment for the Arts Fellows National Heritage Fellowship winners Northwestern University faculty Smith College faculty University of Chicago faculty Warren Wilson College faculty Poets from Ohio American women academics 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American poets