Philip D. Appleman (8 February 1926 – 11 April 2020) was an American poet and writer. He was a Professor Emeritus in the Department of English at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, Bloomington. He published seven volumes of poetry, the first of which was ''Summer Love and Surf'' and the latest of which is ''Perfidious Proverbs'' (Humanity Books, 2011); three novels, including ''Apes and Angels'' (Putnam, 1989); and half a dozen nonfiction books, including the widely used ''Norton Critical Edition, Darwin'' and the ''Norton Critical Edition of Malthus' Essay on Population''. His poetry and fiction have won many awards, including a fellowship in poetry from the

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 Castagnola Award from the

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 ...

, the Friend of Darwin Award from the

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, and the Humanist Arts Award of the

American Humanist Association The American Humanist Association (AHA) is a 501(c) organization, non-profit organization in the United States that advances secular humanism. The American Humanist Association was founded in 1941 and currently provides legal assistance to defe ...

, and have appeared in scores of publications, including ''

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The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

, New Republic,

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

Paris Review ''The Paris Review'' is a quarterly English-language literary magazine established in Paris in 1953 by Harold L. Humes, Peter Matthiessen, and George Plimpton. In its first five years, ''The Paris Review'' published new works by Jack Kerouac, ...

Partisan Review ''Partisan Review'' (''PR'') was a left-wing small-circulation quarterly "little magazine" dealing with literature, politics, and cultural commentary published in New York City. The magazine was launched in 1934 by the Communist Party USA–affi ...

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

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 '' ...

'', and ''

Yale Review ''The Yale Review'' is the oldest literary journal in the United States. It is published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was founded in 1819 as ''The Christian Spectator'' to support Evangelicalism. Over time it began to publish more on ...

''. He has given readings of his poetry at the

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, the

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, the

Huntington Library The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, known as The Huntington, is a collections-based educational and research institution established by Henry E. Huntington and Arabella Huntington in San Marino, California, United State ...

, and many universities. He read several of his poems on the July 6, 2012, episode of ''

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''. He was a founding member of the Poets Advisory Committee of

Poets House Poets House is a national literary center and poetry library based in New York City, United States. It contains more than 80,000 volumes of poetry, and is free and open to the public. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, in November 2020, operations ...

, New York, a former member of the governing board of the

, and a member 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 ...

PEN American Center PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide thr ...

, Friends of Poets & Writers, Inc., and the Authors Guild of America. Appleman wrote many poems drawing on the work of

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

. In 2003 he signed the

Humanist Manifesto ''Humanist Manifesto'' is the title of three manifestos laying out a humanist worldview. They are the original '' A Humanist Manifesto'' (1933, often referred to as ''Humanist Manifesto'' I), the '' Humanist Manifesto II'' (1973), and '' Human ...

. Appleman died in April 2020 at the age of 94.

References

*''Biographical notes from Who's Who in America, Contemporary Authors Autobiography Series, Vol. 18'' 1926 births 2020 deaths American humanists Charles Darwin biographers Indiana University faculty Poets from Indiana {{US-poet-1920s-stub