Background
Zavatsky grew up in a working-class family in Bridgeport, Connecticut. His father was a mechanic who owned a garage.
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Bill Zavatsky
Edit Profileeditor-in-chief journalist poet
Education
He attended Columbia University, where his fellow students included a dynamic cohort of budding writers, such as Phillip Lopate, Ron Padgett, and David Shapiro.
Career
Zavatsky could be described as a second-generation New York School poet, influenced by such writers as Frank O"Hara and Kenneth Koch. (Koch was his professor at Columbia University) In addition to the wry humor typical of the New York School, Zavatsky adds to his poetry an emotional poignancy that gives it additional depth. Zavatsky"s artistic influences include the jazz pianist Bill Evans, whom Zavatsky got to know late in the musician"s career.
Zavatsky has eloquently eulogized Evans, both in the liner notes to his albums, and in his poem "Live at the Village Vanguard."
Like some of his predecessors in the New York School, Zavatsky also excels as a translator of poetry.
His work in this area has included English versions of the writers André Breton, Valery Larbaud, Robert Desnos, and Ramón Gómez de la Serna. Zavatsky has worked as a journalist.
His articles have appeared in The New York Times Book Review and Rolling Stone. He was editor-in-chief of SUN press and SUN magazine.
Zavatsky lives in New York City.
Achievements
Membership
Zavatsky was the first member of his family to graduate from a four-year college.
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Born
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Nationality
United States
Education
Awards
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Guggenheim Fellowship PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize; PEN Translation Prize 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship 1994 PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize
The PEN Translation Prize (formerly known as the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize through 2008) is an annual award given by the PEN American Center to outstanding translations into the English language.The PEN Translation Prize (formerly known as the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize through 2008) is an annual award given by the PEN American Center to outstanding translations into the English language.