John Ashbery

John Ashbery (born July 8, 1927) is one of the most influential and innovative American poets of the 20th century.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Born in Rochester, New York and a graduate of Deerfield Academy, Harvard University, and Columbia University, Ashbery has won nearly every major American award for his poetry, beginning with the Yale Younger Poets Prize in 1956, selected by W. H. Auden, for his first collection, Some Trees. His early work shows the influence of Wallace Stevens, Boris Pasternak, and many of the French surrealists (his translations from French literature are numerous).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the late 1950s, the critic John Bernard Myers categorized the common traits of Ashbery's avant-garde poetry, as well as that of Kenneth Koch, Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Paul Blackburn, Barbara Guest, Kenward Elmslie and others, as constituting a "New York School."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ashbery's works are characterized by a free-flowing, often disjunctive syntax, extensive linguistic play, often infused with considerable humor, and a prosaic, sometimes disarmingly flat or parodic tone. The play of the human mind is the subject of a great many of his poems.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

July 8: July 8 is the 189th day of the year (190th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 176 days remaining....

1927: 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar)....

20th century: The 20th century lasted from 1901 to 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. Common usage sometimes regards it as lasting from 1900 to 1999, but this is often considered incorrect due to the nonexistence of a "Year Zero" before AD 1. The 20th century is also sometimes known as the nineteen hundreds (1900s)...

John Ashbery related Images and Photos (experimental)

Dr. John: Mercernary	Dr. John: Mercernary	John 3:16	John Q (BD)
John Q (DVD) (WS)	John F. Kennedy (Paperback)	John Woo	John Cena
John Thaw	John Hurt	John Cena	John Hurt