Claudia Emerson Explained

Claudia Emerson
Birth Date:	January 13, 1957
Birth Place:	Chatham, Virginia, U.S.
Death Place:	Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation:	Poet, professor
Education:	University of Virginia (BA) University of North Carolina, Greensboro (MFA)
Awards:	Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (2006) Poet Laureate of Virginia (2008–10) Guggenheim Fellowship (2011)

Claudia Emerson (January 13, 1957 – December 4, 2014) was an American poet. She won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for her collection Late Wife,^{[1] [2]} and was named the Poet Laureate of Virginia by Governor Tim Kaine in 2008.

Early life

Emerson was born on January 13, 1957, in Chatham, Virginia, and graduated from Chatham Hall, a preparatory school, in 1975. She received her BA in English from the University of Virginia in 1979 and her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1991.

Career

Emerson published eight poetry collections through Louisiana State University Press's Southern Messenger Poets series: Pharaoh, Pharaoh (1997), Pinion: An Elegy (2002), Late Wife (2005), Figure Studies: Poems (2008), Secure the Shadow (2012), The Opposite House (2015), Impossible Bottle (2015), and Claude Before Time and Space (2018).

Three collections were published posthumously, The Opposite House (March 2015), Impossible Bottle (September 2015) and Claude Before Time and Space (February 2018).^[3]

In addition to her collections, Emerson's work has been included in such anthologies as Yellow Shoe Poets,^{[4] [5]} The Made Thing,^{[6] [7]} Strongly Spent: 50 Years of Shenandoah Poetry,^[8] and Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia.^[9]

Emerson served as poetry editor for the Greensboro Review and a contributing editor for the literary magazine Shenandoah.^[10] In 2002, Emerson was Guest Editor of Visions-International (published by Black Buzzard Press).^[11] On August 26, 2008, she was appointed Poet Laureate of Virginia, by then Governor Tim Kaine^[12] and served until 2010.^[13] In 2008, she returned to Chatham Hall to serve as The Siragusa Foundation's Poet-in-Residence.^[14]

She taught at several colleges including Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. She spent over a decade at the University of Mary Washington, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, as an English professor and the Arrington Distinguished Chair in Poetry.^[15]

In 2013, Emerson joined the creative writing faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, where she taught until her death in 2014 from colon cancer at age 57.^[16]

Personal life

Emerson married musician Kent Ippolito in 2000. The couple lived in Richmond, Virginia, and performed and wrote songs together.^[17] After missing most of the Fall 2014 semester while seeking cancer treatments, Claudia Emerson died on December 4, 2014, in Richmond at the age of 57 from complications associated with colon cancer.

Awards and honors

• The Association of Writers and Writing Programs Intro Award, 1991^[15]
• Academy of American Poets Prize, 1991^[15]
• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, 1994 (As Claudia Emerson Andrews)^[18]
• Virginia Commission for the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, 1995 and 2002^[15]
• University of Mary Washington Alumni Association Outstanding Young Faculty Award, 2003^[15]
• Erskine J. Poetry Prize, 2004 for "Second Bearing, 1919"^[19]
• Witter Bynner Fellowship from Library of Congress, 2005^[20]
• Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, 2006^[21]
• Poet Laureate of Virginia, 2008–2010^{[12] [22]}
• Library of Virginia, Virginia Women in History, 2009^[23]
• Fellowship of Southern Writers, Inaugural Winner, Donald Justice Award for Poetry, 2009^[24]
• Guggenheim Fellowship, 2011^[25]
• Elected to Membership, Fellowship of Southern Writers, 2011^[26]

Bibliography

Poetry collections

• Pharaoh, Pharaoh. LSU Press. 1997. .
• Book: Pinion, An Elegy. LSU Press. 2002. 978-0-8071-2766-7. ^[27]
• Book: Late Wife: Poems. LSU Press. 2005. 978-0-8071-3083-4. ^[28]
• Book: Figure Studies: Poems. LSU Press. 2008. 978-0-8071-3361-3. ^[29]
• Book: Secure the Shadow: Poems. LSU Press. 2012. 978-0-8071-4303-2. ^[30]
• Book: The Opposite House. LSU Press. 2015. 978-0-8071-5848-7. ^[31]
• Book: Impossible Bottle. LSU Press. 2015. 978-0-8071-6083-1. ^[32]
• Claude Before Time and Space. LSU Press. 2018. .

List of poems

width=25%	Title	Year	First published	Reprinted/collected
Early Elegy: Barber	2013	Emerson . Claudia . January 28, 2013 . Early Elegy: Barber . . 88 . 45 . 36 . April 8, 2015.

External links

• • http://lsupress.org/authors/detail/claudia-emerson/ Website for LSU Press with links to pages for books published
• http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/claudia-emerson Academy of American Poets Biography, bibliography and links to poems
• http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/claudia-emerson Poetry Foundation Biography and links to poems and articles published in Poetry (magazine)
• Emerson, Claudia Insistent Places Southern Spaces, October 26, 2009
• Claudia Emerson Papers at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia
• Pulitzer Prize website, Emerson profile
• Library of Congress reading (mp3 format file) Interview and poems
• Kooser, Ted, American Life in Poetry: Column 26—Claudia Emerson's poem "Stable" Emerson's poems "Migrane, Aura and Aftermath" and "What They Want" in Visions International (issue #67)
• Williams, Susan Settlemyre, "Review | Pinion: An Elegy, by Claudia Emerson", Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 1, No. 2 December 16, 2002
• Cheuse, Alan, Radio interview with Claudia Emerson on With Good Reason, Virginia Commission for the Humanities, May 22, 2004.
• Bryne, Edward. "Everything We Cannot See: Claudia Emerson's Late Wife".
• Martz, Michael, "Chatham Adds To Literary Legacy" April 26, 2006 (originally published as "Pulitzer-winning poet from Chatham Virginia: Professor latest with ties to town to bask in literary glory," in the Richmond Times Dispatch on April 20, 2006).
• Williams, Susan Settlemyre, "An Interview with Claudia Emerson, Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 1, No 2 December 16, 2002, transcript and audio file.
• Williams, Susan Settlemyre, "Review | Pinion: An Elegy, by Claudia Emerson", Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 1, No. 2 December 16, 2002
• Emerson, Claudia, "Poems: The Bat, Pitching Horseshoes, Possessions, Surface Hunting", Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Volume 2, No. 1, (Spring, 2003)
• Chappell, Fred, "Same mine yields different gems," Raleigh News and Observer review of The Late Wife on December 25, 2005.
• Fellowship of Southern Writers Members Profile page
• "Poets in Person: Claudia Emerson", HD Video in Fredericksburg, VA with Claudia and husband musician Kent Ippolito, The Cortland Review – Spring 2012 Feature, April 8, 2012.
• "Shot Her Dead", an original song performed by Claudia Emerson and Kent Ippolito, The Cortland Review – Spring 2012 Feature, April 8, 2012.
• 5 new poems in text and audio, The Cortland Review – Spring 2012 Feature, April 8, 2012.
• Reid, Zachary, "2 Pulitzer Prize poetry winners to read at VCU event Wednesday", Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 14, 2014.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Claudia Emerson profile. poetryfoundation.org. December 4, 2014.
2. Web site: Claudia Emerson Wins Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. PBS NewsHour. August 25, 2017. January 21, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140121234511/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june06/emerson_05-04.html. dead.
3. Web site: Impossible Bottle . LSU Press. Website. December 6, 2014.
4. Book: Yellow Shoe Poets. LSU Press. 1999. 978-0-8071-2451-2.
5. Book: Garrett, George. The Yellow Shoe Poets. registration. Cloth. 1st. 1999. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 0-8071-2450-8. 264. April 28, 2006.
6. Book: The Made Thing. registration . 13 . The University of Arkansas Press. 1999. 978-1-55728-579-9.
7. Book: Stokesbury, Leon. The Made Thing. Cloth. 2nd. 1999. University of Arkansas Press. Fayetteville, AR. 1-55728-578-0. 352 pp.
8. http://web/page/normal/402.html Strongly Spent: 50 Years of Shenandoah Poetry
9. Book: Kennedy, Sarah. Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets of Virginia. Cloth. 1st. September 2003. University of Virginia Press. Charlottesville, VA. 0-8139-2222-4. December 4, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928052636/http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/kennedy_smith.html. September 28, 2011. dead.
10. Web site: Shenandoah: The Washington and Lee Literary Review staff. Washington and Lee University. Website. April 7, 2006.
11. News: Davis . Tim . December 4, 2014 . Former Virginia poet laureate, Chatham native Claudia Emerson dies . Star-Tribune . March 29, 2022.
12. Web site: Virginia. loc.gov.
13. Web site: Poets Laureate of Virginia. December 6, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20170728034613/http://poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/poetry-people/poet-laureate/. July 28, 2017. dead., Poetry Society of Virginia; accessed December 6, 2014
14. http://chathamhall.org/news/view/claudia-emerson-poet-in-residence-08 Emerson profile
15. University of Mary Washington. April 17, 2006. UMW's Claudia Emerson wins Pulitzer in Poetry. April 27, 2006. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20060906201238/http://www.umw.edu/universityrelations/news/archives/umws_claudia_emerson_wins_.php. September 6, 2006.
16. Virginia Commonwealth University . June 20, 2013 . VCU Adds Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet to English Faculty. July 6, 2014.
17. Web site: Fredericksburg Songwriters' Showcase. Webliminal.com. Website. December 19, 2006.
18. Book: Stolls, Amy. David Kipen. Jon Peede. Paulette Beete. Campbell Irving. Pamela Kirkpatrick. Garrick Davis. NEA Literature Fellowships: 40 Years of Supporting American Writers. 2006. April 27, 2006. National Endowment for the Arts. Washington, DC. 12. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090710213735/http://www.nea.gov/pub/nea_lit.pdf. July 10, 2009.
19. Web site: Emerson . Claudia . Second Bearing, 1919 . Smartish Pace . December 4, 2014. December 6, 2014. December 8, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141208103212/http://www.smartishpace.com/news/#201 . dead .
20. Web site: Witter Bynner Fellowships. Library of Congress. Website. April 7, 2006.
21. Web site: The 2006 Pulitzer Prize Winners: Poetry . December 6, 2014.
22. http://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/poetlaureate.htm The Poetry Society of Virginia official website
23. Web site: Virginia Women in History: Claudia Emerson . Library of Virginia . 2009 . December 6, 2014 .
24. Web site: Awards . Fellowship of Southern Writers . 2009 . December 6, 2014. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070304102138/http://thefsw.org/page/awards/ . March 4, 2007.
25. Web site: Claudia Emerson: 2011 – US & Canada Competition -Creative Arts – Poetry . John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation . 2011 . December 6, 2014. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141208175520/http://www.gf.org/fellows/17030-claudia-emerson . December 8, 2014.
26. Web site: Claudia Emerson to Be Inducted into Fellowship of Southern Writers . Brady . H. . Media and Public Relations . University of Mary Washington . March 21, 2011. December 6, 2014.
27. Book: Emerson, Claudia. Pinion: An Elegy. Cloth. 1st. 2002. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 0-8071-2765-5. 55 pp.
28. Book: Emerson, Claudia. The Late Wife. Cloth. 1st. September 30, 2005. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 0-8071-3083-4. 54 pp.
29. Book: Emerson, Claudia. Figure Studies. 1st. September 2008. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 978-0-8071-3361-3.
30. Book: Emerson, Claudia. Secure the Shadow. 1st. February 2012. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 978-0-8071-4303-2.
31. Book: Emerson, Claudia. The Opposite House. 1st. March 2015. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 978-0-8071-5848-7.
32. Book: Emerson, Claudia. Impossible Bottle. 1st. September 2015. LSU Press. Baton Rouge, LA. 978-0-8071-6083-1.