Kizer, Carolyn (1925–)

views updated

Kizer, Carolyn (1925–)

American poet. Born Carolyn Ashley Kizer, 1925, in Spokane, WA; attended Columbia University and University of Seattle; m. Charles Bullitt, 1948 (div. 1954); m. John Marshall Woodbridge, 1975; children: 3.

Founded the journal, Poetry Northwest (1959); worked in Pakistan for State Department (1964–65); directed literary programs for National Endowment for the Arts and taught at several universities; served as chancellor of American Academy of Poetry (1995); works include The Ungrateful Garden (1961), Knock Upon Silence (1965), Yin: New Poems (1984), Mermaids in the Basement: Poems for Women (1984), and The Nearness of You (1986); also published collection of essays, Proses: On Poems and Poets (1993). Won Pulitzer Prize for Yin, Borrestone Award, Pushcart Prize and Theodore Roethke Poetry Prize.