Marya Zaturenska

Mary Zaturenska (1902-1982) in the 1920's. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Marya Zaturenska (September 12, 1902 - January 19, 1982) was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet.

Life

Zaturenska was born in Kiev, Ukraine (then part of the Russian Empire). Her family emigrated to the United States, when she was 8, living in New York.

Like many immigrants she worked during the day, in a clothing factory, but was able to attend night high school. She was an outstanding student and won a scholarship to Valparaiso University. She later transferred to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, receiving a degree in library science.

She met poet Horace Gregory in university; they married in 1925, and had 2 children, Patrick and Joanna Gregory.

Her work appeared in the New York Times and Poetry magazine. She wrote 8 volumes of poetry, and edited 6 anthologies.

Writing

Kirkus Review (on Cold Morning Sky): "These may have some distinguishing features, but they struck me as uninspired verse, of the nature school, with little to distinguish them either from point of view of content or form."

Erica Jong (on The Hidden Waterfront): "It is a joy for a member of my generation to discover the great poets of the preceding generations. Marya Zaturenska is one such discovery for me. I hope many of my contempraries will join me in the pleasure and inspiration of her timeless work."

Recognition

Zaturenska won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 1938 for Cold Morning Sky.

Her other awards include the Shelley Memorial Award and the John Reed Prize from Poetry.

Publications

Poetry

• Threshold and Hearth. New York: Macmillan, 1934.
• Cold Morning Sky. New York: Macmillan, 1937.
• The Listening Landscape. New York: Macmillan, 1941.
• The Golden Mirror. New York: Macmillan, 1944.
• Selected Poems. New York: Grove Press, 1954.
• Terraces of Light. New York: Grove Press, 1960.
• Collected Poems. New York: Viking, 1965.
• The Hidden Waterfall: Poems. New York: Vanguard Press, 1974.
• New Selected Poems (edited by Robert S. Phillips). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-81560-717-5

Non-fiction

• Christina Rossetti: A portrait with background. New York: Macmillan, 1949.
• A History of American Poetry, 1900-1940 (with Horace Gregory). New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1946.

Edited

• The Mentor Book of Religious Verse (edited with Horace Gregory). New York: New American Library (Mentor), 1956.
• The Crystal Cabinet: An introduction to poetry (edited with Horace Gregory). New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1962.
• The Silver Swan: Poems of romance and mystery (edited with Horace Gregory, with engravings by Diana Bloomfield). New York, Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 1966.
• Christina Rossetti, Selected Poems. New York: Macmillan, 1970.

Journals

• The Diaries of Marya Zaturenska, 1938-1944 (edited by Mary Beth Hinton, with introduction by Patrick Gregory). Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-81560-714-4

Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.

See also

• List of U.S. poets

External links

Poems

• "The White Dress"
• "A Russian Easter"
• from Cold Morning Sky (4 poems)
• Zaturenska in Poetry: A magazine of verse, 1912-1922: "A Russian Easter," "Russian Peasants," "She Longs for the Country," "The Spinners at Willowsleigh," "Song of a Factory Girl," "A Song for Vanished Beauty," "An Old Tale," "Memories"
• "Everlasting Morning: 11 poems in Poetry, September 1936

Books

• Marya Zaturenska at Amazon.com

About

• Marya Zaturenska: An Introduction