Jon Victor Anderson (1940–2007) was 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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

Early life

Anderson was born on July 4, 1940, in

Somerville Somerville may refer to: Places Australia *Somerville, Victoria, a town **Somerville railway station * Somerville, Western Australia, a suburb of Kalgoorlie, Australia New Zealand * Somerville, New Zealand, a suburb of Manukau City, New Zea ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, to Henry Victor and Frances (Ladd) Anderson.

Education

Anderson earned a BS from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

(1964) and a MFA from the

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a graduate-level creative writing program. At 89 years, it is the oldest writing program offering a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in the United States. Its acceptance rate is between 2 ...

at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

(1968).

Works

Anderson's first book, ''Looking for Jonathan'', was an inaugural selection of the

Pitt Poetry Series The ''Pitt Poetry Series'', published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, is one of the largest and best known lists of contemporary American poetry. History The Pitt Poetry Series was established in 1968 by ...

of the

University of Pittsburgh Press The University of Pittsburgh Press is a scholarly publishing house and a major American university press, part of the University of Pittsburgh. The university and the press are located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The press ...

in 1967. His second, ''Death & Friends'', was nominated for the

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

. * ''Looking for Jonathan'', poetry (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1968) * ''Death & Friends'', poetry (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1970) * ''In Sepia'', poetry (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1974) * ''Counting the Days'', poetry (Lisbon: Penumbra, 1974) * ''Cypresses'', poetry (Port Townsend: Graywolf Press, 1981) * ''The Milky Way: Poems 1967-1982'', poetry (New York: Ecco Press, 1983) * ''Day Moon'', poetry (Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2001)

Accolades

He won a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

from the

John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is a private foundation formed in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Gr ...

in 1976; the

Shelley Memorial Award The Shelley Memorial Award of the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need, and is ...

from

Poetry Society of America Poetry (from the Greek word '' poiesis'', "making") is a form of literary art that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, literal or surface-level meanings. Any partic ...

in 1983 for career achievement; and a

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 feder ...

fellowship in poetry in 1986.

Teaching

He began his teaching career at the

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

1968–72 as an instructor, becoming an assistant professor of creative writing. He was assistant professor of creative writing at

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

1972–73, the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

1973–76, and University of Iowa, Iowa City, 1976–77. At the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

he served as associate professor from 1978 until his retirement. In February 2008 they held a tribute reading. Poets who studied under Anderson include Agha Shahid Ali, Michael Collier,

Stuart Dischell Stuart Dischell (born May 29, 1954 in Atlantic City, New Jersey) is an American poet and Professor in English Creative Writing in the Master of Fine Arts Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Career Stuart Dischell studied L ...

, Loren Goodman,

Tony Hoagland Anthony Dey Hoagland (November 19, 1953 – October 23, 2018) was an American poet. His poetry collection, ''What Narcissism Means to Me'' (2003), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. His other honors included two grant ...

, Peter Oresick, David Rivard, and David Wojahn.

Personal life

He married Nancy Garland in 1964; married his second wife, Linda Baker, in 1967; and married third wife, Barbara Hershkowitz in 1971, with whom he had one son, Bodi Orlen Anderson.

Death

Anderson died on October 20, 2007, in

Tucson Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

, after several weeks of illness. He was cremated and his ashes spread, according to his wishes, in the woods outside of

Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff ( ), known locally as Flag, is the county seat of Coconino County, Arizona, in the southwestern United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 76,831. Flagstaff is the principal city of the Coconino Cou ...

Sources

''Contemporary Authors Online''. The Gale Group, 2002. PEN (Permanent Entry Number): 0000002170.

References

External links

Jon Anderson webpage, University of Arizona Poetry Center
1940 births 2007 deaths Poets from Massachusetts Ohio University faculty University of Portland faculty University of Pittsburgh faculty University of Arizona faculty Iowa Writers' Workshop alumni 20th-century American poets Northeastern University alumni {{US-poet-1940s-stub