Philip Levine (January 10, 1928 – February 14, 2015) was a renowned American writer of poetry and the Poet Laureate of the United States 2011-2012. Throughout his career, two focuses of his poems were gritty portraits of working-class Americans (especially in the city of Detroit, where he grew up) and his family’s Jewish immigrant background. Levine was the recipient of many awards, among them the National Book Award for Poetry, a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, Academy of American Poets Wallace Stevens Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award.
Quotes: “I have a sense that many Americans, especially those like me with European or foreign parents, feel they have to invent their families just as they have to invent themselves.” | “Meet some people who care about poetry the way you do. You’ll have that readership. Keep going until you know you’re doing work that’s worthy. And then see what happens. That’s my advice.”
Sources: Wikipedia, BrainyQuote
Learn more about Philip Levine on Wikipedia. >>
Watch a 2012 profile of Philip Levine on PBS NewsHour [6:34]. >>
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