Augsburg, Germany
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and the regional seat of the Swabia with a well preserved Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsbu ...
) is a German-American teacher, poet, translator and publisher. He is Professor of English Emeritus at the
University at Buffalo
The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...
.
Early life and education
Max Wickert was born Maxalbrecht Wickert in
Augsburg, Germany
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and the regional seat of the Swabia with a well preserved Altstadt (historical city centre). Augsbu ...
, the oldest child of Stephan Phillip Wickert, an artist and art teacher (later industrial designer), and Thilde (Kellner) Wickert. Four younger children, all sisters, were born between 1940 and 1946. In 1943, he was evacuated to Langenneufnach, a small farming village after the
Augsburg raid
The Augsburg Raid, also referred to as Operation Margin, was an attack by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the (MAN) U-boat engine plant in Augsburg during the daylight hours of 17 April 1942. It was carried out by No. 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron and ...
Passau
Passau (; ) is a city in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the ("City of Three Rivers"), as the river Danube is joined by the Inn (river), Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north.
Passau's population is about 50,000, of whom ...
, and
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
. In 1952, his family immigrated to
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
, where he completed high school at the
Aquinas Institute
The Aquinas Institute of Rochester is a Catholic, private, college-preparatory, co-educational school educating in the Basilian tradition. The school is located in Rochester, New York, and was established in 1902. The Aquinas Institute was foun ...
.
After receiving his Bachelor of Arts degree from
St. Bonaventure University
St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858.
In ath ...
and completed graduate work in English at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, studying under
Cleanth Brooks
Cleanth Brooks ( ; October 16, 1906 – May 10, 1994) was an American literary critic and professor. He is best known for his contributions to New Criticism in the mid-20th century and for revolutionizing the teaching of poetry in American higher ...
, E. Talbot Donaldson, Davis P. Harding, Frederick W. Hilles, John C. Pope, Eugene Waith,
W.K. Wimsatt
William Kurtz Wimsatt Jr. (November 17, 1907 – December 17, 1975) was an American professor of English, literary theorist, and critic. Wimsatt is often associated with the concept of the intentional fallacy, which he developed with Monroe Beard ...
, and Alexander Witherspoon. He completed a dissertation on
William Morris
William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
under the direction of William Clyde DeVane and received his Ph.D. in 1965. At Yale, while working as a reader for ''Penny Poems'' under Al Shavzin and Don Mull, he began writing poetry and briefly met
Gregory Corso
Gregory Nunzio Corso (March 26, 1930 – January 17, 2001) was an American poet. Along with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and William S. Burroughs, he was part of the Beat Generation, as well as one of its youngest members.
Early life
Born N ...
and
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka (born Everett Leroy Jones; October 7, 1934 – January 9, 2014), previously known as LeRoi Jones and Imamu Amear Baraka, was an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism. He was the author of numerous b ...
Rochester, New York
Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...
(1962–1965).
Upon arrival in Buffalo, Max Wickert formed close friendships with a number of writers who were then students or fellow teachers, including Dan Murray, Shreela Ray,
Robert Hass
Robert L. Hass (born March 1, 1941) is an American poet. He served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. He won the 2007 National Book AwardJohn Logan. Other significant colleagues at Buffalo were poets
Robert Creeley
Robert White Creeley (May 21, 1926 – March 30, 2005) was an American poet and author of more than 60 books. He is associated with the Black Mountain poets, although his verse aesthetic diverged from that school. Creeley was close with Charle ...
, Irving Feldman, Mac Hammond and Bill Sylvester; novelists
John Barth
John Simmons Barth (; May 27, 1930 – April 2, 2024) was an American writer best known for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. His most highly regarded and influential works were published in the 1960s, and include '' The Sot-Weed Facto ...
,
J. M. Coetzee
John Maxwell Coetzee Order of Australia, AC Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, FRSL Order of Mapungubwe, OMG (born 9 February 1940) is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, and translator. The recipient of the 2003 ...
Leslie Fiedler
Leslie Aaron Fiedler (March 8, 1917 – January 29, 2003) was an American literary critic, known for his interest in mythography and his championing of genre fiction. His work incorporates the application of psychological theories to American ...
,
Lionel Abel
Lionel Abel (28 November 1910- 19 April 2001, in Manhattan, New York)Reisman, Rosemary M. Canfield. "Lionel Abel." ''Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia'' (2013): ''Research Starters''. Web. 11 July 2014. was an eminent Jewish American playwrig ...
, and
Dwight Macdonald
Dwight Macdonald (March 24, 1906 – December 19, 1982) was an American writer, critic, philosopher, and activist. Macdonald was a member of the New York Intellectuals and editor of their leftist magazine '' Partisan Review'' for six years. He ...
.
For the English department, he has served as director of undergraduate studies and as chair of the Charles D. Abbott Poetry Readings Committee. He also helped to establish and frequently judged the university's annual
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 ...
Student Poetry Prize Competition. With Dan Murray and Doug Eichhorn, he founded the
Outriders Poetry Project
''Outriders Poetry Project'' is a privately funded organization operating in Buffalo, NY that sponsors readings and publishes books by poets and writers based in or associated with the greater Buffalo area. The project started in 1968.
History
O ...
in 1968 and has been its director ever since. (Outriders, originally a sponsor of poetry readings in Buffalo bistros, became a small press in 2009.)
Between 1968 and 1972, he published verse translations from the Austrian expressionist
Georg Trakl
Georg Trakl (; 3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which h ...
, and from various German poets. In collaboration with Hubert Kulterer, he also translated ''1001 Ways to Live Without Working'', by the American Beat poet
Tuli Kupferberg
Naphtali "Tuli" Kupferberg (September 28, 1923 – July 12, 2010) was an American counterculture poet, author, singer, editorial cartoonist, comic artist, columnist, publisher, and co-founder of the rock band The Fugs.
Biography
Naphtali Ku ...
, into German.
During the early 1970s, he wrote essays on early
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
and briefly worked as a radio station host for
WBFO
WBFO (88.7 FM broadcasting, FM, "BTPM NPR") is a non-commercial educational station, non-commercial, listener-supported, public radio, public radio station in Buffalo, New York. It is owned by the Western New York Public Broadcasting Associati ...
's "The World of Opera."
His short story, ''The Scythe of Saturn'' was a prize-winner in the 1983 ''Stand Magazine'' (Newcastle upon Tyne) Fiction Competition.
Over the years, over 100 of Max Wickert’s poems and translation have appeared in journals, including
American Poetry Review
''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...
,
Chicago Review
''Chicago Review'' is a student-run literary magazine founded in 1946 and published quarterly in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. The magazine features contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, often publishing works in tr ...
Poetry (magazine)
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by poet and arts columnist Harriet Monroe, who built it int ...
,
Chicago Review
''Chicago Review'' is a student-run literary magazine founded in 1946 and published quarterly in the Humanities Division at the University of Chicago. The magazine features contemporary poetry, fiction, and criticism, often publishing works in tr ...
,
Sewanee Review
''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It publishes original fiction and poetry, essays, reviews, and literary criticism.
History
'' ...
,
Shenandoah (magazine)
''Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Review'' is a literary magazine published by Washington and Lee University.
History
Originally a student-run quarterly, ''Shenandoah'' has evolved into a biannual literary journal. Since 2018, the magazine ...
and ''Xanadu'', as well as in several anthologies.
As a scholar, Max Wickert produced a handful of articles and conference papers on
Spenser
Spenser is an alternative spelling of the British surname Spencer. It may refer to:
Geographical places with the name Spenser:
* Spenser Mountains, a range in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand
People with the surname Spenser:
* Dav ...
,
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
and early
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
, but was principally known as a teacher of a lower-division course on Dante’s
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' (, ) is an Italian narrative poetry, narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of ...
and of an ''Intensive Survey of English Literature'', a seminar of his own design for specially motivated majors. Among his students were Neil Baldwin, Michael Basinski, Charles Baxter, and Patricia Gill.
In 1985, he received an
NEH
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
Summer Fellowship to the Dartmouth Dante Institute, and for several summers thereafter pursued intensive study of Italian at the Università per Stranieri in
Perugia, Italy
Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...
. He has since turned increasingly to translation from Italian. He published ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'', a verse translation of
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
’s epic, ''Gerusalemme liberata'', in 2008, and a year later completed translations of a medieval prose romance,
Andrea da Barberino
Andrea Mangiabotti,Geneviève Hasenohr and Michel Zink, eds. ''Dictionnaire des lettres françaises: Le Moyen Âge''. Collection: La Pochothèque (Paris: Fayard, 1992. ), pp. 62–63. called Andrea da Barberino ( 1370–1431''The Cambridge History ...
’s ''Reali di Francia'' (''The Royal House of France'') and of ''Università per Stranieri (University for Aliens)'' by the contemporary Italian poet, Daniela Margheriti. His edition and verse translation of Tasso's early love poems (''Love Poems for Lucrezia Bendidio'') appeared in 2011, followed in 2017 by his version of Tasso’s first epic, ''Rinaldo'', both published by Italica Press.
Personal life
As a professor at Nazareth College, Wickert married one of his students. The marriage ended in divorce in 1969. A daughter, now a psychologist working in Massachusetts, was born in 1965. He remarried in 2006, and lives with his wife Katka Hammond in downtown Buffalo. His youngest sister, Gabriele Wickert, a college professor of German literature, taught at
Manhattanville College
Manhattanville University is a private university in Purchase, New York, United States. Founded in 1841 as a school at 412 Houston Street in Lower Manhattan, it was initially known as the "Academy of the Sacred Heart". In 1917, the academy recei ...
until her retirement in 2019.
Published books
* ''All the Weight of the Still Midnight'' (Buffalo, NY:
Outriders Poetry Project
''Outriders Poetry Project'' is a privately funded organization operating in Buffalo, NY that sponsors readings and publishes books by poets and writers based in or associated with the greater Buffalo area. The project started in 1968.
History
O ...
, 1972; poems)
* ''Pat Sonnets'' (Sound Beach, NY: Street Press, 2000; poems)
* ''The Liberation of Jerusalem'' ( : Oxford World’s Classics, 2008; verse translation of
Torquato Tasso
Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
’s ''Gerusalemme liberata'')
* (with Hubert Kulterer), ''1001 Wege ohne Arbeit zu leben'' (Vienna ustria Eröffnungen, 1972) and Wenzendorf ermany Stadtlichter Presse, 2009, 2nd. ed. 2015; translation of
Tuli Kupferberg
Naphtali "Tuli" Kupferberg (September 28, 1923 – July 12, 2010) was an American counterculture poet, author, singer, editorial cartoonist, comic artist, columnist, publisher, and co-founder of the rock band The Fugs.
Biography
Naphtali Ku ...
’s ''1001 Ways to Live Without Working''
* ''No Cartoons'' (Buffalo, NY: Outriders Poetry Project, 2011; poems)
* ''Love Poems for Lucrezia Bendidio'' (New York, NY: Italica Press, 2011; edition and verse translation from Torquato Tasso's ''Rime d'Amore'')
* ''Rinaldo by Torquato Tasso'' (New York, NY: Italica Press, 2017; A New English Verse Translation with Facing Italian Text, Critical Introduction and Notes)
Selected publications
Articles
* "Structure and Ceremony in
Spenser
Spenser is an alternative spelling of the British surname Spencer. It may refer to:
Geographical places with the name Spenser:
* Spenser Mountains, a range in the northern part of South Island, New Zealand
People with the surname Spenser:
* Dav ...
’s ‘
Epithalamion
An epithalamium (; Latin form of Greek ἐπιθαλάμιον ''epithalamion'' from ἐπί ''epi'' "upon," and θάλαμος ''thalamos'' " nuptial chamber") is a poem written specifically for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. This f ...
'", ''ELH: A Journal of English Literary History'', XXXV:2 (June, 1968), 135-5.
* "
Karl Mickel
Karl Mickel (12 August 1935 – 20 June 2000) was a German writer.
Life
Mickel was born in Dresden into a working-class family. There, he attended primary school from 1941 to 1949 and experienced together with his mother the bombing of Dresde ...
: A Voice from East Germany'', Books Abroad, XLIII:2 (Spring, 1969), 211-12.
* "Librettos and Academies: Some Speculations and an Example", ''Opera Journal'', VII:4 (1974), 6-16.
* "Bellini’s
Orpheus
In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
", ''Opera Journal'', IX:4 (1976), 11-18.
* "
Orpheus
In Greek mythology, Orpheus (; , classical pronunciation: ) was a Thracians, Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet. He was also a renowned Ancient Greek poetry, poet and, according to legend, travelled with Jason and the Argonauts in se ...
Dismembered: Operatic Myth Goes Underground",
Salmagundi (magazine)
''Salmagundi'' is a US quarterly periodical, featuring cultural criticism, fiction, and poetry, along with transcripts of symposia and interviews with prominent writers and intellectuals. Susan Sontag, a longtime friend of the publication, referr ...
, XXVIII/XXXIX (Summer/Fall, 1977), 118-136.
* "Che Farò Senza Euridyce: Myth and Meaning in Early Opera", ''Opera Journal'', XI: 1 (1978), 18-35.
Verse and fiction (selection)
* "Dawn Scene", ''Choice: A Magazine of Poetry and Photography'', #6 (1970), p. 46.
* "Three Poems",
Descant
A descant, discant, or is any of several different things in music, depending on the period in question; etymologically, the word means a voice (''cantus'') above or removed from others. The ''Harvard Dictionary of Music'' states:
A descant ...
, XIV (Winter, 1970), pp.13–15.
* "Warning", "For Esther", "He is the Mother" and "The Months",
Michigan Quarterly Review
The ''Michigan Quarterly Review'' is an American literary magazine founded in 1962 and published at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The quarterly (known as "MQR" for short) publishes art, essays, interviews, memoirs, fiction, poetry, and ...
, X:3 (Summer, 1971), pp. 195–99.
* "Nocturne" and "Aubade",
Poetry (magazine)
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by poet and arts columnist Harriet Monroe, who built it int ...
, CXIX:4 (January, 1972), pp. 218–19.
* "Two Polemics of Departure", ''Choice: A Magazine of Poetry and Photography'', #7/8 (1972), pp. 310–11.
* "Is This Typical?" ''Street'', II:2 (1976), p. 58.
* "Born Lucky",
American Poetry Review
''The American Poetry Review'' (''APR'') is an American poetry magazine printed every other month on tabloid-sized newsprint. It was founded in 1972 by Stephen Berg and Stephen Parker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The magazine's editor is Elizab ...
VIIL:4 (July/August, 1978), p. 22.
* "Goodbye" and "More Slowly", ''Choice: A Magazine of Poetry and Photography'', #10 (1978), pp. 256–7.
* from the "Pat Sonnets",
Poetry (magazine)
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by poet and arts columnist Harriet Monroe, who built it int ...
, LXXXVII:1 (October, 1980), pp. 18–21.
* "Dawn Song", ''Pequod'' (Winter, 1980), p. 8.
* "A Little Satori Take", Berkeley Poetry Review, #13 (Spring, 1980), p. 22.
* "Parallax, Twenty-two-hundred Hours" and "Letters to Your Grandfather", ''Pacific Poetry and Fiction Review'', VIII:2 (Fall, 1980), pp. 43, 58.
* "Slugabed", ''Xanadu'', #8 (1982), p. 34.
* "Two Poems", ''Pembroke Magazine'', #14 (1983), pp. 42–43.
* from the "Pat Sonnets",
Poetry (magazine)
''Poetry'' (founded as ''Poetry: A Magazine of Verse'') has been published in Chicago since 1912. It is one of the leading monthly poetry journals in the English-speaking world. Founded by poet and arts columnist Harriet Monroe, who built it int ...
, CXL:1 (April,1982), pp. 8–11.
* "Two Poems",
Shenandoah (magazine)
''Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Review'' is a literary magazine published by Washington and Lee University.
History
Originally a student-run quarterly, ''Shenandoah'' has evolved into a biannual literary journal. Since 2018, the magazine ...
, XXXIII:2 (Winter, 1983), pp. 53–54.
* "Pastoral", ''The Lyric'', LXIII:1 (Winter, 1983), p. 14.
* "Three Sonnets from ''The Unholy Weeks''",
Shenandoah (magazine)
''Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Review'' is a literary magazine published by Washington and Lee University.
History
Originally a student-run quarterly, ''Shenandoah'' has evolved into a biannual literary journal. Since 2018, the magazine ...
, XXXV:1 (1983-4), pp. 52–53.
* "Parsifal",
Sewanee Review
''The Sewanee Review'' is an American literary magazine established in 1892. It is the oldest continuously published quarterly in the United States. It publishes original fiction and poetry, essays, reviews, and literary criticism.
History
'' ...
, XCII:4 (Fall,1984), pp. 541–42.
* "The Scythe of Saturn" (fiction) in: Michael Blackburn,
Jon Silkin
Jon Silkin (2 December 1930 – 25 November 1997) was a British poet. He was also the founder of ''Stand'' magazine in 1952.
Early life
Jon Silkin was born in London, in a Litvak Jewish family; his parents were Joseph Silkin and Doris Rubenste ...
and Lorna Tracy (ed.), ''Stand One'' (London:
Victor Gollancz
Sir Victor Gollancz (; 9 April 1893 – 8 February 1967) was a British publisher and humanitarian. Gollancz was known as a supporter of left-wing politics. His loyalties shifted between liberalism and communism; he defined himself as a Christian ...
, 1984), pp. 93–115.
Fellowships and awards
* Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, 1957–58
* NYS Research Foundation Grant-in-Aid, 1968 (for Trakl translations)
* Co-Winner, New Poets Prize,
Chowan University
Chowan University () , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
NEH
The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
Summer Fellowship, Dartmouth Dante Institute, Summer 1986