Ben Belitt (May 2, 1911 – August 17, 2003) was an American poet and translator. Besides writing poetry, he also translated several books of poetry by

Pablo Neruda Pablo Neruda ( ; ; born Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto; 12 July 190423 September 1973) was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old an ...

and

Federico García Lorca Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca (5 June 1898 – 19 August 1936) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27, a g ...

from Spanish to English.In Memoriam

Life

Belitt was born in New York City. He was educated at the University of Virginia, receiving a B.A. in 1932 and an M.A. in 1934, and he was a doctoral student at that university from 1934 to 1936. By the early 1940s, he had taken up an appointment at Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont, where he remained, living in a former firehouse in North Bennington, for the rest of his life. A bachelor, he became a good friend of the dancer (and fellow teacher at Bennington) Bill Bales, of his wife Jo Van Fleet, and of their son Michael Bales, and regularly spent holidays with this family at Bennington or in New York City.

Career

Belitt was the author of eight books of poems; his complete poems ''This Scribe, My Hand'', was published in 1998 by Louisiana State University Press. He wrote two books of essays and over thirteen books of translations. He taught for many decades at Bennington College. After retiring from Bennington College, he continued to live in North Bennington, Vermont and held the position of Professor Emeritus of Language and Literature at the college. He died in Bennington on August 17, 2003, at the age of 92 and was buried in Manchester, Vermont. His papers are held by the University of Virginia.Ben Belitt Papers
at University of Virginia

Influence

The 1962 ballet ''A Look at Lightning'', by the American choreographer

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

was titled after a poem by Belitt. ''

Errand into the Maze ''Errand into the Maze'' is a Martha Graham ballet based on a poem by Ben Belitt set to music by Gian Carlo Menotti. The surrealistic set was designed by Isamu Noguchi, the costumes by Graham herself. The dance uses the Greek myth of Ariadne and ...

'', also by Graham, takes its title from a Belitt poem as well.

Books

As author

*''The Five-Fold Mesh''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938. *''Wilderness Stair: Poems, 1938-1954''. New York: Grove Press, 1955. *''The Enemy Joy: New and Selected Poems''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964. *''Nothing But Light: Poems, 1964-1969''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970. *''The Double Witness: Poems, 1970-1976''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977. *''Possessions, New and Selected Poems, 1938 - 1985''. New York: David Godine, 1986. . *''This Scribe, My Hand: The Complete Poems of Ben Belitt''. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998. . .

As translator

* García Lorca, Federico (1955). '' Poet in New York'' *García Lorca, Federico (1963). ''Joy of the Day'' *García Lorca, Federico (1964). ''Ode to

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...

'' *Neruda, Pablo (1961). ''Selected Poems'' Edited and translated by Ben Belitt. Introduction by Luis Monguió. *Neruda, Pablo (1963). ''Poems for the Mind'' *Neruda, Pablo (1972). ''New Poems (1968-1970)'' (Grove Press)

Recordings

*c. 1965 - Belitt, Ben. ''The Poetry of Ben Belitt''. Recorded at the Poetry Center of the New York YM-YWHA in November 1965. Audio cassette. Audio Forum series. New York: Jeffrey Norton.

Awards

*1937: Belitt shared the Shelley Memorial Award for Poetry for 1936-1937 with Charlotte Wilder.

References

External links

Ben Belitt TranslationsThe Complete Poems of Ben BelittRichard Eberhart, New York Times Book Review
review of Possessions: New and Selected Poems, 1938-1985 {{DEFAULTSORT:Belitt, Ben Poets from New York (state) 1911 births 2003 deaths People from Bennington, Vermont Bennington College faculty University of Virginia alumni 20th-century American poets 20th-century American translators American male poets Federico García Lorca LGBTQ people from Vermont 20th-century American male writers