Saskia Hamilton
Hamilton in 2016
Hamilton in 2016
BornMaria Saskia Hamilton
(1967-05-05)May 5, 1967
Washington, D.C., U.S.
DiedJune 7, 2023(2023-06-07) (aged 56)
New York City, U.S.
Occupation
  • Poet
  • editor
  • university administrator
LanguageEnglish
Alma mater
Children1

Maria Saskia Hamilton (May 5, 1967 – June 7, 2023) was an American poet, editor, and professor and university administrator at Barnard College. She published four collections of poetry, with a fifth collection, All Souls, set to be posthumously published in September 2023. Her academic focus was largely on the American poet Robert Lowell; she edited several collections of the writings and personal correspondence of Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick, and Elizabeth Bishop. Additionally, she served as the director of literary programs at the Lannan Foundation, as the Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Curriculum at Barnard College, and as an editor at The Paris Review and Literary Imagination.

Her work was recognized with awards such as the Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism and the Morton N. Cohen Award. She held fellowships from the Poetry Foundation, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Early life

Maria Saskia Hamilton was born in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 1967, to Elise Wiarda and John Andrew Hamilton Jr.[1][2][3][4][5] Wiarda is an artist and therapist. When Wiarda was ages two to seven, she lived under Nazi occupation in Amsterdam. Elise Wiarda's grandparents were later honored as Righteous Among the Nations by the State of Israel for housing and hiding Hugo Sinzheimer and his wife.[6][7][2] Andrew Hamilton was a writer and editor, who, when Saskia Hamilton was young, was a principal analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. He later became an editorial writer for The Post and Courier in Charleston, South Carolina.[2][1][8] When Saskia was 12, her father re-married to Eliza Euretta Rathbone, an assistant curator at the National Gallery of Art at the time, later the chief curator of The Phillips Collection, and the daughter of Perry T. Rathbone.[9] Hamilton stated that she grew up listening to poetry read by her father and grandmother, and started writing poetry seriously when she was about 18.[10] She had four siblings.[2]

Education and career

Hamilton graduated from Kenyon College with a B.A. in 1989. Soon after graduating, her work closed out the collection The Kenyon Poets: Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of The Kenyon Review, a compilation of poetry in honor of The Kenyon Review.[11] That year, Hamilton was the winner of a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. Sponsored by Ruth Lilly, the fellowship included a US$15,000 prize.[12][13][10] She used the fellowship to attend New York University, where she earned her M.A. in English and creative writing, graduating in 1991.[14][15]

From there, Hamilton worked at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., from 1992 to 1997.[14] She then lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she was the associate director, later director, of literary programs at the Lannan Foundation,[14][16] before moving to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1999. She spent a year teaching at Kenyon College from 2000 to 2001.[14] Her first poetry collection As for Dream was published by Graywolf Press during that time.[17] She stated that the collection was "partially about watching people deal with illness and death in families, and dealing with the moment of death."[17] She then taught for a year at Stonehill College from 2001 to 2002.[14] She moved to Barnard College in New York City in 2002, where she continued to work until her death.[5][14] She also received her Ph.D. from the Editorial Institute at Boston University.[4]

In 2005, Hamilton published The Letters of Robert Lowell, a compilation of poet Robert Lowell's correspondence.[18][19][20] The book was well received. Andrew Motion writing for The Guardian said, "Her selection, as far as one can judge, is excellent: it certainly gives a rounded picture of a marvellously jagged mind. [...] Best of all, her approach throughout is enthusiastic, as well as scholarly, and lets us see that even if Lowell wrote his letters in a way that's almost opposite to the way he wrote his poems (freely, and with hardly any revision), they nevertheless meet in a single concentration." That year, she also published two collections of her poetry: Divide These and Canal: New & Selected Poems, the latter of which featured some poems from her previous two collections and some new works.[21] In 2008, Hamilton collaborated with Thomas Travisano in editing Words in Air, a collection of the correspondence between poets Elizabeth Bishop and Lowell from 1947 to Lowell's death in 1977.[22]

Hamilton was a judge for the 2009 Griffin Poetry Prize.[23] In 2012, she became co-editor for the journal Literary Imagination.[24][4]

In 2014, Hamilton published her fourth collection of poetry, Corridor. David Orr writing for The New York Times and Dan Chiasson writing for The New Yorker both listed the book as one their top poetry books of the year.[25]

Hamilton became Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Curriculum at Barnard College in July 2018.[5] The next month, she joined The Paris Review as an advisory editor.[26][27] In 2019, Hamilton published what would become her most discussed work: The Dolphin Letters, 1970–1979: Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell, and Their Circle and The Dolphin, Two Versions: 1972, 1973.[2][28] The books jointly earned her the 2020 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism from the Poetry Foundation[5][29] and The Dolphin Letters received the 2021 Morton N. Cohen Award from The Modern Language Association[5][30]

Her final poetry collection, titled All Souls, was posthumously released in September 2023.[31][32][33]

Personal life and death

Hamilton died in Manhattan on June 7, 2023, at age 56, from cancer.[2][27][5] She had a son.[5]

Hamilton's name is the title of the tenth track of the 2010 Ben Folds and Nick Hornby collaborative album Lonely Avenue; the song's lyrics are the thoughts of a character who has become obsessed with her based only on the sound of her name.[34] She first met Folds and Hornby after the album's release, when she attended a performance at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Lower Manhattan in October 2010.[34] Hamilton later hosted a conversation with Hornby at the Heyman Center at Columbia University in March 2013 as part of their Writing Lives Series.[35]

Works

Poetry collections

  • As for Dream: Poems (2001), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-316-2[36]
  • Divide These: Poems (2005), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-422-0[19]
  • Canal: New & Selected Poems 1993-2005 (2005), Arc Publications, ISBN 978-1-904614-15-9[21]
  • Corridor: Poems (2014), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-675-0[37]
  • All Souls: Poems (2023), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-64445-263-9[38]

As editor

  • The Letters of Robert Lowell (2005), Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 978-0-374-53034-1[39]
  • Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell (2008), Ed. by Thomas Travisano and Saskia Hamilton, Published by Macmillan, ISBN 9780374531898[40]
  • Poems / Prose (2011), By Elizabeth Bishop, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 0374125589[41]
  • The Dolphin Letters, 1970–1979: Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell, and Their Circle (2019), By Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 9780374141264[42]
  • The Dolphin, Two Versions: 1972, 1973 (2019), By Robert Lowell, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 978-0374538279[43]
  • Memories of Our Childhood in Wartime Amsterdam 1940-1945 (2022), By Claar Hugenholtz-Wiarda, Louise van Wassenaer-Wiarda, and Elise Wiarda, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Self-published, ISBN 9798210608192

As contributor

  • The Kenyon Poets: Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of The Kenyon Review (1989), Ed. by Galbraith M. Crump, ISBN 978-0962325007[11]
  • Joining Music with Reason: 34 Poets, British and American (2010), Ed. by Christopher Ricks, ISBN 978-1-904130-40-6[44]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 "John Hamilton Obituary (1935–2022) – Charleston, NC – Charleston Post & Courier". The Post and Courier. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Genzlinger, Neil (June 18, 2023). "Saskia Hamilton, Poet Who Edited Another Poet's Letters, Dies at 56". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved June 19, 2023.
  3. ↑ "The Beinecke Scholarship". Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 "Saskia Hamilton". Poetry Foundation. June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Bell, Linda. "Saskia Hamilton (1967–2023)". Barnard College. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  6. ↑ "J.A. Hamilton Jr. Becomes Fiance OfEliseWiarda; Graduate of Harvard to Wed Daughter of High Judge in Netherlands". The New York Times. January 24, 1960. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  7. ↑ Hugenholtz-Wiarda, Claar; van Wassenaer-Wiarda, Louise; Wiarda, Elise (August 26, 2022). Hamilton, Saskia (ed.). Memories of Our Childhood in Wartime Amsterdam 1940-1945. Gail Prensky. ISBN 9798210608192. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Weddings/Celebrations; Claudia Hamilton, Jon Hlafter". The New York Times. June 24, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Eliza E. Rathbone, Curator, Is Married". The New York Times. September 9, 1979. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Johnson, Dirk (May 7, 1989). "For Young Poets, a Chance to Meet Kindred Souls". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  11. 1 2 Ware, Michele (November 12, 1989). "Celebrating the poets at Kenyon". The News and Observer. p. 78. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  12. 1 2 "Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships". Poetry Foundation. June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Correction". The New York Times. May 14, 1989. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Saskia Hamilton". John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation... Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Poetry contest winner considers year of travel to 'settle mind'". Journal and Courier. Associated Press. September 22, 1990. p. 14. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  16. ↑ MacNeil, William (November 2, 1997). "Foundation's Cash Gives Gift of Time to Writers". Albuquerque Journal. p. 164. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  17. 1 2 Cline, Lynn (February 16, 2001). "The Santa Fe New Mexican 16 Feb 2001, page 75". The Santa Fe New Mexican. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  18. ↑ Motion, Andrew (April 7, 2006). "The pain and the pleasure". the Guardian. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  19. 1 2 Hamilton, Saskia (May 2005). Divide These. Saint Paul, Minn: Graywolf Press. ISBN 1555974228.
  20. ↑ Pritchard, William (June 19, 2005). "Lowell, inside out". The Boston Globe. p. 70. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  21. 1 2 Hamilton, Saskia (August 2005). Canal. Arc. ISBN 1904614159.
  22. ↑ James, Jamie (November 7, 2008). "Letter writing as an art between two postwar poets". The Los Angeles Times. p. 71. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  23. ↑ "You don't even have to be Canadian to help select our finest poets". National Post. National Post. September 23, 2008. p. 22. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Editorial". Literary Imagination. 14 (1): 1. March 1, 2012. doi:10.1093/litimag/ims021. ISSN 1523-9012. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  25. ↑ Orr, David (December 22, 2014). "David Orr's 10 Favorite Poetry Books of 2014". The New York Times. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  26. ↑ Nemens, Emily (August 30, 2018). "Announcing Our New Editors". The Paris Review. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  27. 1 2 Hamilton, Saskia (June 7, 2023). "Faring". The Paris Review. Introduction by Claudia Rankine. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  28. ↑ LOZADA, LUCAS IBERICO (January 17, 2020). "The Dolphin Letters Resurrects One of the 20th Century's Most Emotional Literary Scandals". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  29. 1 2 "Pegasus Award for Criticism". Poetry Foundation. June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  30. 1 2 "Professor Saskia Hamilton Wins the Modern Language Association's Morton N. Cohen Award". Barnard College. December 8, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
  31. ↑ "All Souls". www.graywolfpress.org. Graywolf Press. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  32. ↑ Ciano, James (August 26, 2023). "Los Angeles Review of Books". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  33. ↑ Popa, Maya (August 18, 2023). "Immortal Truths: PW Talks with Saskia Hamilton". PublishersWeekly.com. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  34. 1 2 Macdonald, John (October 13, 2010). "Ben Folds, Nick Hornby Bring Collabo To Life In NYC". Spin.com. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  35. ↑ "An Evening with Nick Hornby—in conversation with Saskia Hamilton | Event". SOF/Heyman. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  36. ↑ Hamilton, Saskia (February 2001). As for Dream: Poems. Graywolf Press. ISBN 1555973167.
  37. ↑ Hamilton, Saskia (April 2014). Corridor. Graywolf Press. ISBN 9781555976750.
  38. ↑ Hamilton, Saskia (October 2023). All Souls. Graywolf Press. ISBN 9781644452646.
  39. ↑ McGrath, Charles (June 15, 2005). "The Letters of Robert Lowell". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  40. ↑ Logan, William (October 31, 2008). "'I Write Entirely for You'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  41. ↑ "Poems / Prose [Boxed Set]". MacMillan Publishers. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  42. ↑ Sehgal, Parul (December 3, 2019). "'The Dolphin Letters' Shine Light on a Famous Marital and Literary Scandal". The New York Times. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  43. ↑ Logan, William (February 2020). "Lowell's Dolphin". The New Criterion. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  44. ↑ Ricks, Christopher (2010). Joining Music with Reason: 34 Poets, British and American, Oxford 2004–2009. Waywiser. ISBN 978-1-904130-40-6.
  45. 1 2 "John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Saskia Hamilton". www.gf.org. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
  46. ↑ Guggenheim profile Archived June 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  47. ↑ "2021 Literature Award Winners – American Academy of Arts and Letters". artsandletters.org. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
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