George Hill Dillon (November 12, 1906 – May 9, 1968) was an American editor and poet. He was awarded the
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1932 for ''The Flowering Stone''.
Dillon was born in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...
but he spent his childhood in
Kentucky
Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
and the Mid-West. He graduated from
The University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, near the shore of Lake Michigan about fr ...
in 1927 with a degree in English. He was the editor for ''
Poetry magazine'' from 1937 to 1949, during which time he also served in
WWII
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
as a member of the Signal Corps. Viewing, from the top of the Eiffel Tower, the German Army being driven from Paris, he signaled, in
Morse, "Paris is Free".
Though included in several contemporary anthologies, Dillon's works are largely out of print. Today he is perhaps best known as one of the many lovers of
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyric poetry, lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted Feminism, feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. ...
, whom he met in 1928 at The University of Chicago where she was giving a reading. Dillon was the inspiration for Millay's epic 52-sonnet sequence ''Fatal Interview'' and they later collaborated on translations from Charles Baudelaire's ''Les Fleurs du Mal'' in 1936.
Awards
*
1932 Guggenheim Fellowship
* 1932
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, for ''The Flowering Stone''
Works
*''Boy in the Wind'', The Viking Press, 1927
*''The Flowering Stone'', The Viking press, 1931
*''Flowers of Evil'' Charles Baudelaire, Translator George Dillon, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Harper & Brothers, 1936
*''Three plays of Racine''. University of Chicago Press, 1961
Sources
''Author and Book Info.com''
External links
1906 births
1968 deaths
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winners
University of Chicago alumni
20th-century American poets
{{US-poet-1900s-stub