Sydney Lea
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Sydney Lea (born December 22, 1942) is 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 ...
, novelist, essayist, editor, and professor. He was the founding editor of the ''
New England Review The ''New England Review'' is an American quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, ...
'' and was the Poet Laureate of Vermont from 2011 to 2015. Lea's writings focus the outdoors, woods, and rural life New England and "the mysteries and teachings of the natural world."


Early life

Sydney Lea was born in
Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania Chestnut Hill is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known for the high incomes of its residents and high real estate values, as well as its private schools. Geography Boun ...
. Growing up, his father had a camp in
Washington County, Maine Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,095, making it the third-least populous county in Maine. Its county seat is Machias. The county was established on June 25, 1789. ...
. Lea attended
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 ...
, graduating with a B.A. in 1964. While there, he was a member of the social and literary fraternity,
St. Anthony Hall St. Anthony Hall or the Fraternity of Delta Psi is an American fraternity and literary society. Its first chapter was founded at Columbia University on , the feast day of Saint Anthony the Great. The fraternity is a non–religious, nonsectar ...
. Later, he received a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Yale.
Robert Penn Warren Robert Penn Warren (April 24, 1905 – September 15, 1989) was an American poet, novelist, literary critic and professor at Yale University. He was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern ...
was his mentor.


Career

Lea taught at
Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
from 1969 to 1976. He then taught at
Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...
from 1976 to 1989 and 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 ...
in 1979. He was a professor in the MFA program at the
Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...
from 1989 to 2002. However, during that time, he also taught at Eotvos Lorand University in
Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
while on a
Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
in 1992, at
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
in 1997, and at Franklin College in
Lugano, Switzerland Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...
in 2001. He returned to Dartmouth from 1999 to 2002, becoming a professor in its graduate program in liberal studies from 2003 to 2011. In 1977, Lea co-founded the ''
New England Review The ''New England Review'' is an American quarterly literary magazine published by Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, ...
'' with
Jay Parini Jay Parini (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and academic. He is known for novels, poetry, biography, screenplays and criticism. He has published novels about Leo Tolstoy, Walter Benjamin, Paul the Apostle, Herman Melville, and a noveli ...
in and edited it until 1989. His work has appeared in literary journals and magazines including ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'', ''
The Los Angeles Review Red Hen Press is an American non-profit press located in Pasadena, California, and specializing in the publication of poetry, literary fiction, and nonfiction. The press is a member of the Community of Literary Magazines and Presses, and was a fi ...
'', ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'', ''
The 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 ...
'', ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...
'', and ''
Virginia Quarterly Review The ''Virginia Quarterly Review'' is a quarterly literary magazine that was established in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman. This ''"National Journal of Literature and Discussio ...
''. In 1987, Lea received a Guggenheim Fellowship for poetry. In 1996, his poetry collection ''To the Bone: New and Selected Poems'' was co-winner of the
Poets' Prize The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who ...
. His collection of poetry ''Pursuit of the Wound,'' published in 2000, was a
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
finalist. Lea became Poet Laureate of Vermont in 2011. The Advisory Committee who recommended him for the four-year position found "Lea's poetry to be virtuosic in texture and form, yet likely to be engaging to a diversity of readers and listeners because of the work's dramatic intensity, narrative momentum, and musicality, and because of this poet's extraordinarily evocative descriptions of northern New England's landscapes, animal and plant life, and the seasonal panorama." The committee also said, "Through all of his books, Lea has paid particular attention to the stories of generations living alongside one another in north-country villages, including the interactions of 'old-timers' and relative newcomers. He continues the tradition of Vermont poets who are both singular — one of a kind—and broadly accessible." In a review of his 2013 poetry collection, ''I Was Thinking of Beauty'',
Jacqueline Kolosov Jacqueline Kolosov (born in Chicago) is an American poet, children's book author, and professor. Her most recent collection of poetry is ''Modigliani's Muse'' (WordTech Communications, 2009), and her most recent young adult novel is ''A Sweet Diso ...
notes, "For Lea, the moral and aesthetic cannot be separated. Though he is honest about his flaws and shortcomings in his poetry—one reason he quickly wins and sustains his readers' trust—his poems strive to teach us how to live while making us laugh at our need to take ourselves so seriously." His work across the genres has appeared in some sixty anthologies. the composer
Joseph Hallman Joseph Hallman (born Nov. 20, 1979) is an American composer. A functional orphan, Hallman was born and raised in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Girard College from first to twelfth grades. Based in Philade ...
turned Lea's poem "Mudtime" into a long-form song cycle for voice and string quartet. Lea described as "a high point of my term as poet laureate. It was so refreshing and so different, a great shot in the arm." It premiered in 2014 by Hallman's long term collaborator, Abigail Haynes-Lennox and the 802 Quartet at the
Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...
. Lea has since collaborated with the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble on a number of multimedia presentations. Lea's thirteenth collection of poetry, ''Here,'' was published by Four Way Books in 2019. In a review ''of Here'', ''
Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...
'' writes, "Lea weaves a graceful tapestry of personal history while expressing his trademark wonder at the natural world in his quietly powerful 13th collection. His memories are not grand in scale; he recalls watching his daughter spill a glass of milk on a train, teaching his son to ride a bike, and schoolboy shenanigans such as a “slew of idiot tricks” pulled on a Latin instructor—yet these scenes become significant through Lea’s telling." His 2020 book, ''The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy,'' is a graphic mock-epic poem in collaboration with former
Vermont Cartoonist Laureate Vermont () is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. According to the mo ...
James Kochalka James Kochalka (born May 26, 1967, in Springfield, Vermont) is an American comic book artist, writer, animator, and rock and roll, rock musician. His comics are noted for their blending of the real and the surreal. Largely autobiographical, Ko ...
. Released in 2021, ''Seen From All Sides'' is a collection of newspaper essays Lea wrote between 2011 and 2015 while he was the Poet Laureate of Vermont. In 2021, Lea received the Governor's Award for Excellence from the Vermont Arts Council. This award "is reserved for artists both distinguished in their field, and who have had a profound impact on the state of Vermont."


Honors and awards

* 2021, Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, Vermont Arts Council * 2012: Conservation Hero,
Field and Stream ''Field & Stream'' (''F&S'' for short) is an American magazine focusing on sport hunting, recreational fishing and other outdoor activities. It was a print publication between 1895 and 2015, and became an online-only publication in 2020. After ...
magazine * 2011 Poet Laureate of Vermont * 2001
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...
finalist for ''Pursuit of a Wound'' * 1998
Poets' Prize The Poets' Prize is awarded annually for the best book of verse published by a living American poet two years prior to the award year. The $3000 annual prize is donated by a committee of about 20 American poets, who each nominate two books and who ...
, for ''To the Bone: New and Selected Poems'' * 1992
Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest * 1987
Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
, Siena, Italy * 1985 Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, Bellagio Center


Personal life

In the early 1990s, Lea moved to Vermont. He lives in Newbury, Vermont and has a camp in
Washington County, Maine Washington County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maine. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,095, making it the third-least populous county in Maine. Its county seat is Machias. The county was established on June 25, 1789. ...
. He has five adult children. He has served as the vice president of Central Vermont Adult Basic Education. He is also active in the conservation effort in Washington County, Maine, helping to raise funds for the Downeast Lakes Land Trust. He is currently a trustee emeritus of the
Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level college affiliated with California Institute of the Arts. It offers Master's degrees in a low-residency format. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award wi ...
. He plays the blues harmonica.


Published works


Full-length poetry collections

* ''Here''. Four Way Books, 2019. * ''No Doubt the Nameless''. Four Way Books, 2016. . * ''I Was Thinking of Beauty''. Four Way Books, 2013. * Six Sundays toward a Seventh: No Selected Spiritual Poems. Cascade Books, 2012. * ''Young of the Year''. Four Way Books, 2011. * Under Drum Ice, A Selection of Poems in Slovenian, translation by Marjan Strojan. 2006 * ''Ghost Pain: Poems''. Sarabande Books, 2005. * ''Pursuit of a Wound''. University of Illinois Press, 2000. * ''To the Bone: New and Selected Poems''. University of Illinois Press, 1996. * * ''Prayer for the Little City: Poems''. Scribner's, 1989. . * ''No Sign''. University of Georgia Press,1987. * To the Summer Sweethearts. Press at Colorado College, 1985. * ''The Floating Candles: Poems''. University of Illinois Press, 1982 * ''Searching the Drowned Man''. University of Illinois Press, 1980.


Children's poetry books

* ''The Exquisite Triumph of Wormboy.'' Illustrated by James Kochalka. Word/Galaxy, 2020.


Novels

* 1st edition Scribner's 1989


Essay collections

* ''Seen From All Sides: Lyric and Everyday Life''. Green Writers Press, 2021. * ''Growing Old in Poetry: Two Poets, Two Lives.'' with Fleda Brown. Green Writers Press. 2018. * ''What’s the Story? Reflections on a Life Grown Long''. Green Writers Press, 2015. * ''A North Country Life: Tales of Woodsmen, Waters, and Wildlife.'' Skyhorse/Simon & Schuster, 2013. * ''A Hundred Himalayas: Essays on Life and Literature''. University of Michigan, 2012, * * ''Hunting the Whole Way Home: Essays and Poems''. Lyons Press, 2002. * Gothic to Fantastic: Readings in Supernatural Fiction. Ayer Publishing, 1980.


Essays

* "Sixty Steps from Yale." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 7, no. 6, June 2016. * "River, Stars, and Blessed Failure" ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 6, no. 2, February 2015. * "The Serpent on Barnet Knoll: Three Essays." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 5, no. 6, June 2014. * "Sex & Death: Essay on the Uncanny." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 5, no. 2, February 2014. * "Mrs. Ragnetti and the Spider: Essay." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 4, no. 10, October 2013. * "Pony and Graveyard: A Dream of the Flesh." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 4, no. 2, February 2013. * "A Short Sad Story: Essay." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 3, no. 12, December 2012. * "Becoming a Poet: A Way to Know." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 3, no. 9, September 2012. * "Unskunked: An Essay." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 3, no. 3, March 2012. * "Weathers and Places: Essay." ''Numéro Cinq''. vol. 2, no. 3, March 2011. * "The Pragmatist's Prayer." ''Image Journal''. Issue 55, 2005. * "Introduction." ''The Breath of Parted Lips: Voices from Robert Frost Place, Volume 2.'' CavanKerry Press, 2004. * "Living with the Stories: Bonness Verbatim." ''Prairie Schooner'', vol. ''70, no. 1'', Spring 1996, p. 160. * "The Death Of A Hunting Dog", ''Sports Illustrated'', December 2, 1991.


Short stories

* "Mercy on Beeson's Partridge." ''The Virginia Quarterly Review'', vol. 70, no. 3, 1994, pp. 541–55. * “Presences.” ''Prairie Schooner'', vol. 64, no. 1, 1990, pp. 74–83.


Anthology publications

* "Inviting the Moose: A Vision." ''Poets of the New Century''. Editors Roger Weingarten and Richard Higgerson. David R. Godine, 2003. p. 208.


Anthologies edited

*''The Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry''. with Robert Pack and
Jay Parini Jay Parini (born April 2, 1948) is an American writer and academic. He is known for novels, poetry, biography, screenplays and criticism. He has published novels about Leo Tolstoy, Walter Benjamin, Paul the Apostle, Herman Melville, and a noveli ...
. University Press of New England, 1985. *''The Nomads: Tales From Africa''. with Morgan Chipopu. Zambian P.E.N. Center, 2006. *''The Burdens of Formality: Essays on the Poetry of Anthony Hecht''. University of Georgia Press, 1988.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lea, Sydney 1942 births Living people People from Newbury, Vermont Yale University alumni St. Anthony Hall 20th-century American novelists Poets laureate of Vermont Novelists from Vermont American essayists Wesleyan University faculty 20th-century American poets American male poets American male essayists Rockefeller Fellows Novelists from Connecticut 20th-century American male writers The New Yorker people Dartmouth College faculty Yale University faculty Vermont College of Fine Arts faculty Middlebury College faculty Franklin University faculty 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male writers Poets from Philadelphia