David Ignatow

February 7, 1914 (age 83)

Brooklyn, New York, United States

In his youth, Ignatow worked in a butcher shop. He also helped out in a bindery in Brooklyn, New York, which he later owned and managed. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, he sought employment with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as a journalist. Ignatow's father helped him with the funding to produce his first book, Poems, in 1948. Although his book was well received, he had to continue working various jobs and find time in between to pursue writing. These jobs included work as a messenger, hospital admitting clerk, vegetable market night clerk and paper salesman. Other books followed such as The Gentle Weight Lifter and Say Pardon. In 1962 Ignatow joined the faculty at the New School for Social Research as an instructor, and he became poetry editor of the Nation. He also served as president of the Poetry Society of America. He then began short stints at various universities, including the University of Kentucky, the University of Kansas and the Vassar College. Ignatow commenced eight years at Columbia University as an adjunct professor in 1968 becoming a senior lecturer in 1977. Beginning in 1968 he also embarked on sixteen years as poet-in-residence and associate professor at the York College of the City University of New York. He became professor emeritus in 1984. Among Ignatow's other books are Rescue the Dead, The Notebooks of David Ignatow, Facing the Tree: New Poems, Sunlight: A Sequence for My Daughter, I Have a Name, Whisper to the Earth, The One in the Many: A Poet's Memoirs and Gleanings: Uncollected Poems, 1950s and 1960s. His papers are housed at the Archive for New Poetry at the University of California, San Diego.

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Photos
Works

book

The Gentle Weight Lifter

1955

Rescue the Dead: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

(With that three-line epigraph, David Ignatow declares the...)

1968

Leaving the Door Open: Poems

(Poems consider mortality, paradise, dreams, nature, disil...)

1984

Shadowing the Ground (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

(A collection of poems that deal with life and its various...)

1991

I Have a Name (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

(Winner of the William Carlos Williams Award (1997) The wo...)

1996

At My Ease: Uncollected Poems of the Fifties and Sixties (American Poets Continuum)

(Drawing from his literary fathers Walt Whitman and Willia...)

1998

Against the Evidence: Selected Poems, 1934–1994 (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

(For over half a century, David Ignatow has crafted spare,...)

Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry)

(Interviews commenting on Ignatow's life and poetry accomp...)

Living Is What I Wanted: Last Poems (American Poets Continuum)

(The final collection from one of American's most noted po...)

The One in the Many: A Poet’s Memoirs

(The author looks back on his childhood, friendships, care...)

David Ignatow

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also known as David Ignatowsky

educator journalist writer poet

Background

David Ignatow was born on February 7, 1914, in Brooklyn, New York, United States. He was the son of Max and Yetta (Wilkenfeld) Ignatow.

Education

Ignatow was a student of public schools in Brooklyn, New York.

Career

In his youth, Ignatow worked in a butcher shop. He also helped out in a bindery in Brooklyn, New York, which he later owned and managed. During the Great Depression in the 1930s, he sought employment with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) as a journalist.

Ignatow's father helped him with the funding to produce his first book, Poems, in 1948. Although his book was well received, he had to continue working various jobs and find time in between to pursue writing. These jobs included work as a messenger, hospital admitting clerk, vegetable market night clerk and paper salesman. Other books followed such as The Gentle Weight Lifter and Say Pardon.

In 1962 Ignatow joined the faculty at the New School for Social Research as an instructor, and he became poetry editor of the Nation. He also served as president of the Poetry Society of America. He then began short stints at various universities, including the University of Kentucky, the University of Kansas and the Vassar College. Ignatow commenced eight years at Columbia University as an adjunct professor in 1968 becoming a senior lecturer in 1977. Beginning in 1968 he also embarked on sixteen years as poet-in-residence and associate professor at the York College of the City University of New York. He became professor emeritus in 1984.

Among Ignatow's other books are Rescue the Dead, The Notebooks of David Ignatow, Facing the Tree: New Poems, Sunlight: A Sequence for My Daughter, I Have a Name, Whisper to the Earth, The One in the Many: A Poet's Memoirs and Gleanings: Uncollected Poems, 1950s and 1960s. His papers are housed at the Archive for New Poetry at the University of California, San Diego.

Achievements

Ignatow wrote and edited more than twenty-five books. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Poetry Society of America’s Shelley Memorial Prize and Robert Frost Medal, the Bollingen Prize and the John Steinbeck Award. He also had two Guggenheim fellowships, and a National Institute of Arts and Letters award "for a lifetime of creative effort". He also won the William Carlos Williams Award from the Poetry Society of America.

Works

The Gentle Weight Lifter The Gentle Weight Lifter

Rescue the Dead: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series) Rescue the Dead: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

Leaving the Door Open: Poems Leaving the Door Open: Poems

Shadowing the Ground (Wesleyan Poetry Series) Shadowing the Ground (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

I Have a Name (Wesleyan Poetry Series) I Have a Name (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

At My Ease: Uncollected Poems of the Fifties and Sixties (American Poets Continuum) At My Ease: Uncollected Poems of the Fifties and Sixties (American Poets Continuum)

$Against the Evidence: Selected Poems, 1934\u20131994 (Wesleyan Poetry Series) Against the Evidence: Selected Poems, 1934\u20131994 (Wesleyan Poetry Series)$ Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry) Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry)

Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry) Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry)

Living Is What I Wanted: Last Poems (American Poets Continuum) Living Is What I Wanted: Last Poems (American Poets Continuum)

$The One in the Many: A Poet\u2019s Memoirs The One in the Many: A Poet\u2019s Memoirs$

book
- At My Ease: Uncollected Poems of the Fifties and Sixties (American Poets Continuum)
  (Drawing from his literary fathers Walt Whitman and Willia...)
  1998
- Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry)
  (Interviews commenting on Ignatow's life and poetry accomp...)
- I Have a Name (Wesleyan Poetry Series)
  (Winner of the William Carlos Williams Award (1997) The wo...)
  1996
- Leaving the Door Open: Poems
  (Poems consider mortality, paradise, dreams, nature, disil...)
  1984
- Against the Evidence: Selected Poems, 1934–1994 (Wesleyan Poetry Series)
  (For over half a century, David Ignatow has crafted spare,...)
- Rescue the Dead: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)
  (With that three-line epigraph, David Ignatow declares the...)
  1968
- The One in the Many: A Poet’s Memoirs
  (The author looks back on his childhood, friendships, care...)
- Shadowing the Ground (Wesleyan Poetry Series)
  (A collection of poems that deal with life and its various...)
  1991
- Living Is What I Wanted: Last Poems (American Poets Continuum)
  (The final collection from one of American's most noted po...)
- The Gentle Weight Lifter 1955

Views

Quotations: "My avocation is to stay alive; my vocation is to write about it; my motivation embraces both intentions, and my viewpoint is gained from a study and activity in both ambitions. The book important to my career is the next one or two or three on the fire.

"As I grow old, I find myself more bold in writing about death. My more recent poems treat the subject from almost every angle: without anger, with study and contemplation. Writing about death and dying calms what underlying fears impel me to bring the coming event out into the open. I think of this writing as a kind of triumph over time that remains to me. I look out upon trees and recognize my relationship to them, as organic quantities, in which I feel a satisfying companionship. Earth itself is for a time being, the universe no less. In short, I am a participant in a worldly epic, if significance can be found in living and dying, together with everything and everyone else. I bow to my higher self."

Membership

Ignatow was a president of the Poetry Society of America.

Interests

Writers

William Carlos Williams

Connections

Ignatow married Rose Graubart on July 20, 1940. That marriage produced 2 children - David and Yaedi.

Father:: Max Ignatow
Mother:: Yetta (Wilkenfeld) Ignatow
child:: David Ignatow
child:: Yaedi Ignatow
Wife:: Rose Graubart

Main Photo

David Ignatow

School period

College/University

Career

Gallery of David Ignatow

Gallery of David Ignatow

Gallery of David Ignatow

Achievements

Membership

Awards

Robert Frost Medal

Guggenheim fellowship

Other Photos

Other photo of David Ignatow

Other photo of David Ignatow

Other photo of David Ignatow

Other photo of David Ignatow

Other photo of David Ignatow

Other photo of David Ignatow

Connections

Connections

book

The Gentle Weight Lifter

Rescue the Dead: Poems (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

Leaving the Door Open: Poems

Shadowing the Ground (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

I Have a Name (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

At My Ease: Uncollected Poems of the Fifties and Sixties (American Poets Continuum)

Against the Evidence: Selected Poems, 1934–1994 (Wesleyan Poetry Series)

Open Between Us (Poets on Poetry)

Living Is What I Wanted: Last Poems (American Poets Continuum)

The One in the Many: A Poet’s Memoirs

David Ignatow

Background

Education

Career

Achievements

Works

book

Views

Membership

Interests

Writers

Connections

Born

Died

Nationality

Career

1962

1968 - 1976

1968 - 1984

1977

1984

Awards

Shelley Memorial Prize, United States

Robert Frost Medal, United States

Bollingen Prize, United States

John Steinbeck Award, United States

Guggenheim fellowship

National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, United States

William Carlos Williams Award, United States