Ντενίς Λέβερτοφ: Ποιήματα

Αμερικανοί ποιητές #7

by Denise Levertov, Γιάννης Λειβαδάς (Translator)

Ενδεχομένως η πιο σημαντική ποιήτρια στην νεότερη ιστορία της αμερικανικής λογοτεχνίας, η Ντενίς Λέβερτοφ γεννήθηκε το 1923 στο Ίλφορντ της Αγγλίας. Από το 1948 όμως που μετανάστευσε στις ΗΠΑ, όντας σύζυγος του συγγραφέα Μίτσελ Γκούντμαν, πολιτογραφήθηκε και αναγνωρίστηκε σαν αμερικανίδα.
Συνδέθηκε με τους ποιητές της σχολής του Black Mountain (Κρήλυ, Ντάνκαν, Μπλάκμπερν), από τους οποίους επηρεάστηκε και με τους οποίους μοιράστηκε εκείνη την χαρακτηριστική "σκότια αντικειμενικότητα" της γλώσσας. Θεωρήθηκε ιδιαιτέρως σημαντική και ταλαντούχα εξ αρχής. Ο Κέννεθ Ρέξροθ, με τον οποίον αλληλογραφούσε για ένα διάστημα, έγραψε γι' αυτήν: "είναι η πιο επιδέξια ποιήτρια της γενιάς της, η πιο βαθυστόχαστη, η πιο συγκινησιακή." [...] (Από την εισαγωγή της έκδοσης)

Genres: Poetry

66 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2007

About the author

American poet Denise Levertov was born in Ilford, Essex, England. Her mother, Beatrice Spooner-Jones Levertoff, was Welsh. Her father, Paul Levertoff, from Germany migrated to England as a Russian Hassidic Jew, who, after converting to Christianity, became an Anglican parson. At the age of 12, she sent some of her poems to T. S. Eliot, who replied with a two-page letter of encouragement. In 1940, when she was 17, Levertov published her first poem.

During the Blitz, Levertov served in London as a civilian nurse. Her first book, The Double Image, was published six years later. In 1947 she married American writer Mitchell Goodman and moved with him to the United States in the following year. Although Levertov and Goodman would eventually divorce, they had a son, Nickolai, and lived mainly in New York City, summering in Maine. In 1955, she became a naturalized American citizen.

During the 1960s and 70s, Levertov became much more politically active in her life and work. As poetry editor for The Nation, she was able to support and publish the work of feminist and other leftist activist poets. The Vietnam War was an especially important focus of her poetry, which often tried to weave together the personal and political, as in her poem "The Sorrow Dance," which speaks of her sister's death. Also in response to the Vietnam War, Levertov joined the War Resister’s League.

Much of the latter part of Levertov’s life was spent in education. After moving to Massachusetts, Levertov taught at Brandeis University, MIT and Tufts University. On the West Coast, she had a part-time teaching stint at the University of Washington and for 11 years (1982-1993) held a full professorship at Stanford University. In 1984 she received a Litt. D. from Bates College. After retiring from teaching, she traveled for a year doing poetry readings in the U.S. and England.

In 1997, Denise Levertov died at the age of 74 from complications due to lymphoma. She was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

Levertov wrote and published 20 books of poetry, criticism, translations. She also edited several anthologies. Among her many awards and honors, she received the Shelley Memorial Award, the Robert Frost Medal, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Lannan Award, a grant from the National Institute of Arts and Letters, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.