Lucien Stryk
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Lucien Stryk (April 7, 1924 – January 24, 2013) was an American poet, translator of Buddhist literature and Zen poetry, and former English professor at
Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois, United States. It was founded as "Northern Illinois State Normal School" in 1895 by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld, initially to provide the state with c ...
(NIU).


Biography

Stryk was born in Poland on April 7, 1924, and moved to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
aged four, where he spent the remainder of his childhood. He later served as a Forward Observer during World War II in the Pacific. On his return, he studied at Indiana University, and afterwards at the Sorbonne in Paris, London University, and the University of Iowa Writing Program. From 1958 until his retirement in 1991 Lucien Stryk served on the Northern Illinois University English department faculty. In 1991 NIU awarded him an honorary doctorate for his accomplishments. He also has taught at universities in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and was a Fulbright lecturer both in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and in
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
. Stryk wrote or edited more than two dozen books. These include his own poetry, poetry anthologies and numerous translations of Chinese and Japanese Zen poetry, both classical and contemporary. He also recorded much of his work on Folkways Records. His poetry was influenced by
Walt Whitman Walter Whitman Jr. (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist; he also wrote two novels. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature and world literature. Whitman incor ...
,
Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...
, and Basho, and translated into Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Swedish and Italian. Lucien Stryk twice received the Illinois Arts Council Artist's Grant, and twice the Illinois Arts Council Literary Award. He edited two seminal volumes of Midwestern poetry, ''Heartland I'' and ''Heartland II'', which put the Midwest on the literary map. Lucien's sequential portrait of the city, "A Sheaf for Chicago," was first published in Chicago as part of a "Best New Poem" competition shared with John Berryman and Hayden Carruth. That same poem was recently reprinted in the anthology, ''City of the Big Shoulders: Poems about Chicago'' (University of Iowa Press, 2012). In 2009, the
American Literary Translators Association The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) is an organization in the United States dedicated to literary translation. ALTA promotes literary translation through its annual ALTA conference and year-round events structured around the creatio ...
(ALTA) announced the inaugural Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prizes. Lucien Stryk died January 24, 2013, at St. John's Hospice in London. He is buried in
Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...
. He was survived by his wife, Helen; sister, Leonora Krimen; son, Dan Stryk and his wife Suzanne; daughter, Lydia Stryk.


Poetry

* ''Taproot'', Fantasy Press, 1953 * ''The Trespasser'', Fantasy Press, 1956 * ''Notes for a Guidebook'', (The New Poetry Series) AMS Press * ''Heartland: Poets of the Midwest'', (editor) Northern Illinois University Press, 1967 * ''The Pit and Other Poems'', Swallow Press, 1969 * ''Awakening'', Swallow Press, 1973 * ''Heartland II: Poets of the Midwest'', (editor) Northern Illinois University Press, 1975 * ''Selected Poems'', Swallow Press, 1976 * ''The Duckpond'', Omphalos Press, 1978 * ''Prairie voices: a collection of Illinois poets'', Spoon River Poetry Press, 1980, * ''Willows'', Embers Handpress, 1983 * ''Collected Poems, 1958-1983'', Swallow Press, 1984 * ''Bells of Lombardy'', Northern Illinois University Press, 1986, * ''Of Pen & Ink & Paper Scraps'', Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1989 * ''And Still Birds Sing : New & Collected Poems'', Swallow Press/Ohio University Press, 1998, * ''Where We Are: Selected Poems and Translations'', Skoob Books, 1997


Selected non-fiction and works of translation

* ''Zen: Poems, Prayers, Sermons, Anecdotes, Interviews'', Doubleday and Co, 1963, reissue: Ohio University Press, 1981 * (reprint Grove Press, 1994, ) * ''Afterimages: Zen Poems of Shinkichi Takahashi'', Swallow Press, 1970 * * ''The Duckweed Way: Haiku of Issa'', Translators Lucien Stryk, Takashi Ikemoto, Rook Press, 1977 * * ''Encounter with Zen: Writings on Poetry and Zen'', Swallow Press, 1981 * * ''On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho'', Penguin, 1985 * * ''Bird of time:
Haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...
of Basho'' * ''The Dumpling Field: Haiku of Issa'', Translator Lucien Stryk, Ohio University Press, 1991 * * Lucien Stryk (ed) ''Cage Of Fireflies : Modern Japanese
Haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...
'', Swallow Press, 1993, * ''The Awakened Self: Encounters With Zen'', Kodansha International, 1995, *


About Stryk

* Zen, Poetry, the Art of Lucien Stryk. Susan Azar Porterfield, ed. Ohio University Press, 1993. * Interview with Stryk 'Poets & Writers' July/August 1995. * Susan Azar Porterfield, "The War Poetry of Lucien Stryk." ''Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association'' Winter 2001 * Susan Azar Porterfield, "Thomas James and Lucien Stryk: "and you/My first live poet." ''The Writer's'' Chronicle'' Oct. 2013


References


External links


Stryk Discography
at
Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was f ...

"Lucien Stryk", ''PoetryPoetry''Northern Illinois University's Statement On His Death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stryk, Lucien American male poets Literary critics of English American academics of English literature 2013 deaths 1924 births Burials at Highgate Cemetery 20th-century American poets 20th-century American translators 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Polish emigrants to the United States