Marie Ponsot (née Birmingham; April 6, 1921 – July 5, 2019) 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 ...

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, teacher, and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''trans ...

. Her awards and honors included the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York, the daughter of Marie Candee, a public school teacher, and William Birmingham, an importer. She grew up in

Jamaica, Queens Jamaica is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It has a popular large commercial and retail area, though part of the neighborhood is also residential. Jamaica is bordered by Hollis, St Albans, and Cambria Heights to the ea ...

along with her brother. She was already writing poems as a child, some of which were published in the ''

Brooklyn Daily Eagle The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''Kings County Democrat'', later ''The Brooklyn Daily Eagle'' before shortening title further to ''Brooklyn Eagle'') was an afternoon daily newspaper published in the city ...

''. After graduating from St. Joseph's College for Women in Brooklyn, Ponsot earned her master's degree in seventeenth-century literature from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. After the

Second World War 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 ...

, she journeyed to Paris, where she met and married Claude Ponsot, a painter and student of

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

. The couple lived in Paris for three years, during which time they had a daughter. Her friend the American poet

Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Monsanto Ferlinghetti (March 24, 1919 – February 22, 2021) was an American poet, painter, social activist, and co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers. An author of poetry, translations, fiction, theatre, art criticism, and ...

published her first book of poetry, ''True Minds'', in 1956. Later, Ponsot and her husband relocated to the United States. The couple went on to have six sons before divorcing. She was left with seven children and she was not publishing her poetry. (Years later Claude Ponsot, by then a professor, became chairman at the fine arts department of St. John's University in Queens, New York.) Upon returning from France, Ponsot worked as a freelance writer of radio and television scripts. She also translated 69 children's books from the French, including ''The Fables of La Fontaine''. She co-authored with Rosemary Deen two books about the fundamentals of writing, ''Beat Not the Poor Desk'' and ''Common Sense''. Ponsot taught a poetry thesis class, as well as writing classes, at the Poetry Center of the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located in the Carnegie Hill neighborhood of the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the You ...

. She also taught at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, Beijing United University,

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, and

, and she served as an English professor at

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

in New York, from which she retired in 1991. She was the Chancellor of the

Academy of American Poets The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outrea ...

from 2010 to 2014. Ponsot lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

until her death at

NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (abbreviated as NYP) is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City. It is the primary teaching hospital for Weill Cornell Medicine and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. The hospi ...

on July 5, 2019. Ponsot was a mentor to many younger poets and writers.

Sapphire Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...

wrote an essay in her honor for an event celebrating the 2009 publication of Ponsot's collection entitled ''Easy''. Poet

Marilyn Hacker Marilyn Hacker (born November 27, 1942) is an American poet, translator and critic. She is Professor of English emerita at the City College of New York. Her books of poetry include ''Presentation Piece'' (1974), which won the National Book Award, ...

has described her as being "one of the major poets of her generation." Ponsot was also a lifelong friend and mentor to Hacker and science fiction writer

Samuel R. Delany Samuel R. "Chip" Delany (, ; born April 1, 1942) is an American writer and literary critic. His work includes fiction (especially science fiction), memoir, criticism, and essays on science fiction, literature, sexual orientation, sexuality, and ...

Awards

Ponsot authored several collections of poetry, including ''The Bird Catcher'' (1998), a finalist for the 1999

Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreac ...

and the winner of the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".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 ...

, the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Prize, The Robert Frost Poetry Award, the Shaughnessy Medal of the

Modern Language Association The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "str ...

, the 2013

Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize The Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize is awarded annually by The Poetry Foundation, which also publishes ''Poetry'' magazine. The prize was established in 1986 by Ruth Lilly. It honors a living U.S. poet whose "lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordin ...

from the Poetry Foundation, and the 2015

Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry The Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry is an annual prize, administered by the '' Sewanee Review'' and the University of the South, awarded to a writer who has had a substantial and distinguished career. It was established through a be ...

Selected bibliography

* ''True Minds'', City Lights Pocket Bookshop, (1956) * ''Admit Impediment'', Knopf, (1981) * ''The Green Dark'', Knopf, (1988) * ''The Bird Catcher'', Knopf, (1998) * ''Springing: New and Selected Poems'', A.A. Knopf, (2002) * * ''Collected Poems'', Knopf (2016) .

Translations

* *

Non-fiction

* *

References

External links

Marie Ponsot profile and poems at Academy of American Poets

Bomb Magazine interview by Benjamin Ivry with Marie Ponsot

Review of Marie Ponsot's book ''Easy'' by Stephen Burt. ''New York Times''. December 16, 2009. * Video clip. November 2, 2009. * Video clip. Breakout: Voices from Inside. A 200
PEN American Center
event.
Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
Marie Ponsot papers, 1931-2014
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponsot, Marie 1921 births 2019 deaths American literary critics American women literary critics American women poets 20th-century American translators 20th-century American poets 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American translators 21st-century American poets 21st-century American women writers Writers from Brooklyn People from Jamaica, Queens St. Joseph's University (New York) alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni New York University faculty Columbia University faculty Queens College, City University of New York faculty American expatriates in France American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women academics