Joseph Langland (February 16, 1917 – April 9, 2007) was an American poet.

Life

Born in

Spring Grove, Minnesota Spring Grove is a city in Houston County, Minnesota, Houston County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,330 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, Langland was raised in Northeastern

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

on the family farm. Langland received both a bachelor's degree (1940) and a master's degree (1941) from 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 ...

. He served in the U.S. Army as an infantryman during

World War II 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 ...

. His first collection of poems ''For Harold'' (1945) was written for his younger brother who was killed in action in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. After the war, Langland taught part-time at the University of Iowa and then joined the faculty of

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

, teaching there from 1948 to 1959. He then moved to the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

, where he founded the

MFA Program for Poets & Writers MFA may refer to: Organizations * Marine and Fisheries Agency, a former UK government executive agency * Ministry of Foreign Affairs (including a list of ministries with the name) * Movement of the Forces of the Future (), a political party in Cô ...

. He was a faculty member at UMass from 1959 to 1979 and a professor emeritus from 1979 until his death in 2007. His work appeared in ''Massachusetts Review'', ''Paris Review'', ''The Nation'', ''The New Yorker''. He married Judith Gail Wood on June 26, 1943. They had three children: Joseph Thomas Jr., (1946?); Elizabeth, (1948); and

Paul Paul may refer to: People * Paul (given name), a given name, including a list of people * Paul (surname), a list of people * Paul the Apostle, an apostle who wrote many of the books of the New Testament * Ray Hildebrand, half of the singing duo ...

(1951). He died April 9, 2007, at his home in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

, at the age of 90. His papers are held at Luther College in Iowa.

Works

* ''The Green Town'' (1956) * ''The Wheel of Summer'' (1963) * ''An Interview and Fourteen Poems'' (1973) * * ''Any Body’s Song'', Doubleday, 1980 (National Poetry Series) * ''A Dream of Love (A poem with etchings)'', Pleiades Press (1986) * ''Twelve Preludes and Postludes'' (1988) *

Editor

References

External links

Collection of Langland's papers at Luther College
1917 births 2007 deaths American male poets University of Iowa alumni University of Iowa faculty University of Wyoming faculty University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty People from Spring Grove, Minnesota Writers from New Rochelle, New York Military personnel from Minnesota Poets from Minnesota 20th-century American poets 20th-century American male writers {{US-poet-1910s-stub