May Swenson Summary

May Swenson was born in Logan, Utah. She earned a B.S. at Utah State University in 1939 and worked as an editor at New Directions Press between 1959 and 1966. She was a poet-in-residence at Purdue Uni... Read more

Critical Essay by William Stafford No one today is more deft and lucky in discovering a poem than May Swenson. Her work [in Half Sun Half Sleep] often appears to be proceeding calmly, just descriptive... Read more

Critical Essay by Rosemary Johnson These poems [in New and Selected Things Taking Place] mutter in the passive voice: "it is observed"; "it happens." The event, the text, s... Read more

Critical Essay by Victor Howes May Swenson's poems [in New and Selected Things Taking Place] aspire to the condition of jewels. At their crystalline best they are hard and bright, glinting of g... Read more

Critical Essay by Charles Saunders The verse in May Swenson's "Snow in New York" which draws the speaker's reverie to its climax is the statement "Snow in New York i... Read more

Stanford was an American poet, educator, and critic. In this essay, she discusses the roles of observation and description in Swenson's poetry. May Swenson is the poet of the perceptible. No wr... Read more

A feminist critic and poet, Ostriker has published numerous studies on the relationship between gender and literature. In the following excerpt, she discusses the feminist power of Swenson's po... Read more

Collier is an American poet, educator, and critic. In the following excerpt, he admires the outlook expressed in In Other Words. The familiar voice in May Swenson's In Other Words: New Poems sp... Read more

A noted contemporary American poet, Corn has received praise for the informal yet controlled style of his verse, which synthesizes traditional and modern elements. In the following review, he finds ma... Read more

An American educator, poet, and critic, Schulman has served as the poetry editor of the journal Nation. Here, she gives an overview of Swenson's poetry, including her posthumous collections. Th... Read more

Hentoff is an American novelist and critic. His nonfiction and young adult fiction reflect his passions for jazz, literature, and civil rights. In the following excerpt, he offers a favorable review o... Read more

Gibbs was an American poet. In this excerpt, she attempts to define the poetry of A Cage of Spines. Gibbs concludes her observations with a wish that Swenson would attempt more ambitious poetry. [How]... Read more

Recognized as a national authority on poetry, Kennedy is well respected as a poet for adults as well as children. His verse is written in traditional metric patterns and acknowledged for its amusing a... Read more

In the following excerpt, Swenson discusses poetry as an art and compares poetry to science. What is the experience of poetry? Choosing to analyze this experience for myself after an engrossment of ma... Read more

In the following excerpt, Berryman provides a primarily positive review of Another Animal. [May Swenson is described] on the jacket [of Another Animal] as having come from Utah "to New York Cit... Read more

In the following review, Earnshaw praises The Love Poems of May Swenson. The posthumous publication of May Swenson's poems celebrating Eros adds luster to the reputation of a major American poe... Read more

The following review offers a highly favorable assessment of The Complete Poems to Solve. Included in this volume are seventy-two poems for young readers, many of which appeared in Poems to Solve. In ... Read more

In the following essay, Schulman explores Swenson's treatment of the themes of life, love, and death in her poetry. The voice of May Swenson combines the directness of intimate speech and the u... Read more

In the following excerpt from a review of poetry collections by five different authors, Gibbs characterizes A Cage of Spines as the best of the five volumes, but notes that Swenson could have been &#x... Read more

In the following excerpt from a review of five books of poetry, Disch offers praise for In Other Words, noting especially Swenson's flair for writing poetry that deals with minutiae. We pick th... Read more

In the following obituary, Bernstein surveys Swenson's life and career. May Swenson, a poet known for her cerebral, playful verse, and a recipient two years ago of a MacArthur Foundation Fellow... Read more

In the following excerpt, Collier applauds In Other Words: New Poems, asserting that the volume presents what he terms Swenson's "vision of incredible integrity." The familiar voi... Read more