Richard Wilbur [photo by Nancy Palmieri]
Just got off the phone with Richard Wilbur, who, industrious as ever, has finished translating two more Corneille plays that Harcourt will soon publish. And for the first time in two decades he will be returning to the classroom when classes resume after Labor Day. Do the students at Amherst (Dick's alma mater) know how lucky they are? Wilbur is co-teaching a course with his tennis doubles partner, Amherst Professor David Sofield. The course is titled simply "Donne, Herbert, Marvell, Milton." Wish I could be there.
-- DL
Richard Wilbur was one of the very first poets I ever met, back in 1991. I asked him all sorts of dumb questions, but instead of losing patience, he was charming and gracious and kind. A gentleman of the highest caliber.
Posted by: Laura Orem | August 31, 2008 at 07:35 PM
I heard him read at West Chester this year. Of all the poetry readings I've ever been to, this was the most moving. He began it by reading a poem that he'd written following the death of his wife. Simply stunning.
Also, I didn't know he'd been a hobo in his younger years-- which makes him even more AWESOME.
Posted by: Jill Essbaum | August 31, 2008 at 10:59 PM