Richard Henry Wilde Dillard (October 11, 1937 – April 4, 2023) was an American poet, author, critic, and translator.
. Hollins University Website. Retrieved on March 23, 2011.

Life and career

Richard Henry Wilde Dillard Vance, Jane Gentry. "R. H. W. Dillard entry" in
Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary
' (2006). Joseph M. Flora, Amber Vogel, and Bryan Albin Giemza (eds.).

Louisiana State University Press The Louisiana State University Press (LSU Press) is a university press at Louisiana State University. Founded in 1935, it publishes works of scholarship as well as general interest books. LSU Press is a member of the Association of University Pres ...

. pp. 105-06. . Google Books. Retrieved on March 23, 2011. was born in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It lies in Southwest Virginia, along the Roanoke River, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Blue Ridge range of the greater Appalachian Mountains. Roanok ...

, Dillard was best known as a poet. He was also highly regarded as a writer of fiction and critical essays, as well as one of the screenwriters for the cult classic '' Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster''. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from

Roanoke College Roanoke College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers ...

and went on to receive of a Master of Arts (1959) and the Ph.D. (1965) from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. While at the University of Virginia he was both a

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

and a DuPont Fellow. He was considered something of an institution at

Hollins University Hollins University is a private university in Hollins, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1842 as Valley Union Seminary in the historical settlement of Botetourt Springs, Virginia, Botetourt Springs, it is Timeline of women's colleges in the Un ...

where he has been teaching creative writing, literature, and film studies since 1964. Dillard had been the editor of the ''Hollins Critic'' from 1996. He also served as the vice president of the '' Film Journal'' from 1973 to 1980. Dillard was the winner of numerous awards for his writing including 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 ...

Prize, the O. B. Hardison, Jr. Poetry Prize, and the Hanes Award for Poetry. In 2007, he was awarded the George Garrett Award for Service to Contemporary Literature by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. Dillard influenced many contemporary writers including both his ex-wives

Annie Dillard Annie Dillard (née Doak; born April 30, 1945) is an American author, best known for her narrative prose in both fiction and nonfiction. She has published works of poetry, essays, prose, and literary criticism, as well as two novels and one memo ...

and Cathryn Hankla. Others include

Henry S. Taylor Henry Splawn Taylor (June 21, 1942 - October 13, 2024) was an American poet, academic, and translator. The author of more than 15 books of poems, translation, and nonfiction, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1986. Early life and educat ...

, Lee Smith, Lucinda MacKethan, Anne Jones, Rosanne Coggeshall, Wyn Cooper, Jill McCorkle,

Madison Smartt Bell Madison Smartt Bell (born August 1, 1957, Nashville, Tennessee) is an American novelist. While established as a writer by several early novels, he is especially known for his trilogy of novels about Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolutio ...

, and Julia Johnson. Dillard died in Roanoke, Virginia on April 4, 2023, at the age of 85.

Bibliography

* 1966 ''The Day I Stopped Dreaming About

Barbara Steele Barbara Steele (born 29 December 1937) is an English actress and producer, known for starring in Italian gothic horror films of the 1960s. She has been referred to as the "Queen of All Scream Queens" and "Britain's first lady of horror". She pl ...

'' * 1971 ''News of the Nile'' * 1972 ''After Borges'' * 1974 ''The Book of Changes'' * 1976 ''Horror Films'' * 1981 ''The Greeting: New & Selected Poems'' * 1983 ''The First Man on the Sun'' * 1988 ''Understanding George Garrett'' * 1994 ''Just Here, Just Now'' * 1995 ''Omniphobia'' * 1995

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

's ''The Little Box'' * 1999

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

's ''The Sexual Congress'' * 2001 ''Sallies'' * 2011 ''What Is Owed the Dead'' * 2014 ''Not Ideas''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillard, R. H. W. 1937 births 2023 deaths Writers from Roanoke, Virginia American humanities academics American literary critics American translators Hollins University faculty Latin–English translators Roanoke College alumni University of Virginia alumni American male poets Journalists from Virginia American male non-fiction writers