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Anne Stevenson

54quotes
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The mid-twentieth century saw a sustained exchange between American and British literary culture, a crossing of the Atlantic that shaped the careers of many writers who claimed more than one tradition as their own. Anne Stevenson, born on January 3, 1933, in Cambridge, was one such figure — a United States citizen whose working life unfolded across that transatlantic divide.

Educated at the University of Michigan, Stevenson worked as a poet, writer, and literary critic, producing work in the English language over a career that stretched across several decades. The dual roles of poet and critic gave her practice a particular texture, the making of poems running alongside the analytical reading of others' work. The Library of Congress Name Authority records her as "Stevenson, Anne, 1933–2020," a plain designation that traces the span of a long and active life.

Recognition came through more than one formal channel. She received the Cholmondeley Award as well as a Lannan Literary Award, two honors that together reflect the breadth of her reception on both sides of the Atlantic. Stevenson died on September 14, 2020, in Durham, and those two awards remain among the concrete markers of the regard her work attracted during her lifetime.

Quotes by Anne Stevenson

I never wanted to be a pop star.
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I never wanted to be a pop star.
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Poets these days, like artists and composers, have won for themselves almost unlimited freedom. You can pass yourself off as a painter without being able to draw, as a composer without being conscious of key relationships, and as a poet without making yourself familiar with traditional verse forms.
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Poets these days, like artists and composers, have won for themselves almost unlimited freedom. You can pass yourself off as a painter without being able to draw, as a composer without being conscious of key relationships, and as a poet without making yourself familiar with traditional verse forms.
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Looking back at it now, any objective account of my life is bound to read like a cross between 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' and a travel brochure.
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Looking back at it now, any objective account of my life is bound to read like a cross between 'The Wife of Bath's Tale' and a travel brochure.
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I truly hate marketing promotions, and I don't at all approve of encouraging wannabe poets to write bad poetry.
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I truly hate marketing promotions, and I don't at all approve of encouraging wannabe poets to write bad poetry.
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Many varieties of sonnet, of course, have been written over the ages.
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Many varieties of sonnet, of course, have been written over the ages.
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Writing in a strict form can surprise you.
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Writing in a strict form can surprise you.
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I've cancelled all my subscriptions to poetry magazines. I prefer to read the 'New Scientist.'
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I've cancelled all my subscriptions to poetry magazines. I prefer to read the 'New Scientist.'
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Have you ever heard of a pianist who never had to practice - or of an architect who didn't bother to find out why buildings stand up?
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Have you ever heard of a pianist who never had to practice - or of an architect who didn't bother to find out why buildings stand up?
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A poem might be defined as thinking about feelings – about human feelings and frailties.
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A poem might be defined as thinking about feelings – about human feelings and frailties.
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I play with language a great deal in my poems, and I enjoy that. I try to condense language, that is, I try to express complicated but I hope real emotions as simply as possible. But that doesn’t mean the poems are simple, just that they are as truthful as I can make them.
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I play with language a great deal in my poems, and I enjoy that. I try to condense language, that is, I try to express complicated but I hope real emotions as simply as possible. But that doesn’t mean the poems are simple, just that they are as truthful as I can make them.
AS
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