Robert L. Hass (b. March 1, 1941) is a Californian poet whose works are well-known for their West Coast subject and attitude. March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... This article is about the year. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... A poet is some one who writes poetry. ... Regional definitions vary from source to source. ...

Life

Hass was born in San Francisco. Encouraged to dedicate himself to his writing by his older brother, Hass grew up with an alcoholic mother. (His mother's alcoholism was a major topic in the 1996 poem collection, Sun Under Wood.) Awe-struck by Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg, among others in the 1950s Bay Area poetry scene, Hass entertained the idea of becoming a beatnik. Hass was interested when the area became influenced by East Asian literary techniques, such as haiku. This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinkers normal personal, family, social, or work life, and may lead to physical or mental harm. ... Young Gary Snyder, on one of his early book covers Gary Snyder (born May 8, 1930) is an American poet, essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist. ... Allen Ginsberg (left) with his lifelong companion, poet Peter Orlovsky Irwin Allen Ginsberg (IPA: ) (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American Beat poet born in Newark, New Jersey. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... USGS Satellite photo of the San Francisco Bay Area. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ... Beatnik cartoon The term beatnik was coined by Herb Caen in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 2, 1958. ... Haiku ) is a mode of Japanese poetry, the late 19th century revision by Masaoka Shiki of the older hokku ), the opening verse of a linked verse form, haikai no renga. ...

Career

Hass graduated from St. Mary's College in Moraga, California in 1963, and received his MA and Ph.D. in English from Stanford University in 1965 and 1971 respectively. At Stanford he studied with the poet and critic Yvor Winters, whose ideas influenced his later writing and thinking. His Stanford classmates included the poets Robert Pinsky, John Matthias, and James McMichael. Hass taught literature and writing at the University at Buffalo in 1967. From 1971 to 1989, he taught at his alma mater St. Mary's, at which time he transferred to the faculty of University of California, Berkeley. He as been a visiting faculty member in the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop on several occasions. Saint Marys College of California is a private, coeducational college located in Moraga, California. ... Moraga Way view toward Moraga Road. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate (or graduate) course of one to three years in duration. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Stanford redirects here. ... Arthur Yvor Winters (October 17, 1900 - January 26, 1968) was an American literary critic and poet, noted as a critic of poetry and embroiled in controversy. ... Robert Pinsky 15 May 2005 Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet and former Poet Laureate of the United States (1997-2000). ... John Matthias is an American poet. ... University at Buffalo, The State University of New York (also known as the State University of New York at Buffalo or SUNY-Buffalo and abbreviated as UB) is located in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ...

From 1995-1997, Hass served two terms as the US Poet Laureate (Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress), and became a well-known champion of literacy, poetry, and ecological awareness. He criss-crossed the country lecturing in places as diverse as corporate boardrooms and for civic groups, or as he has said, "places where poets don't go." Since his self-described "act of citizenship," he has written a weekly column on poetry in the Washington Post. He serves as a Chancellor of the American Academy of Poets, is a trustee of the Griffin Poetry Prize, and works actively for literacy and the environment. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress is appointed by the United States Librarian of Congress and earns a stipend of $35,000 a year. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... ... The Academy of American Poets is the largest organization in the United States dedicated to the art of poetry. ... The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canadas youngest and most lucrative poetry award. ...

Hass says that he admires beat poet Lew Welch's short poem "Raid Kills Bugs Dead". He commented in an archived online chat that "It's to the point." In Hass' opinion, the five most important poets of the last 50 years were Chilean Pablo Neruda, Peruvian Cesar Vallejo, and Polish poets Zbigniew Herbert, Nobel-winner Wislawa Szymborska, and Nobel-winner Czesław Miłosz. The term Beat Generation refers primarily to a group of American writers of the 1950s. ... Lewis Barrett Welch, Jr. ... Neruda recording poems at the U.S. Library of Congress in 1966 Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973) was the pen name of the Chilean writer and communist activist Ricardo Eliecer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto. ... C sar Vallejo (March 16, 1892 - April 15, 1938) published only three books of poetry but is nonetheless considered one of the great poetic innovators of the 20th century. ... Young Zbigniew Herbert Herberts family Zbigniew Herbert (29 October 1924 in Lwów - 28 July 1998 in Warsaw) was an influential Polish poet, essayist and moralist. ... Nobel Prize in Literature medal. ... A 1996 post stamp with Wisława Szymborska Wisława Szymborska (born July 2, 1923) is a Polish poet, essayist and translator of French literature, laureate of Nobel Prize in Literature in 1996. ... CzesÅ‚aw MiÅ‚osz in September 1999 CzesÅ‚aw MiÅ‚osz (1911-2004), Cracow (Poland), December 1998 CzesÅ‚aw MiÅ‚osz( ); (June 30, 1911 – August 14, 2004) was a Polish poet and essayist. ...

While at Berkeley, Hass has translated the poetry of his fellow Berkeley professor and neighbor Czesław Miłosz as part of a team with Robert Pinsky and Miłosz. Robert Pinsky 15 May 2005 Robert Pinsky (born October 20, 1940) is an American poet and former Poet Laureate of the United States (1997-2000). ...

Published works

Poetry

• Field Guide, Robert Hass, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1973, ISBN 0-300-01650-6
• Praise, Robert Hass, New York: Ecco Press, 1979, ISBN 0-912946-61-X
• Sun Under Wood: new poems, Robert Hass, Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1996, ISBN 0-88001-468-7
• Human Wishes, Robert Hass, New York: Ecco Press, 1989, ISBN 0-88001-211-0

Critical works

• "James Wright", Robert Hass, in The Pure Clear Word: Essays on the poetry of James Wright, Dave Smith (editor), Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982, ISBN 0-252-00876-6
• Twentieth Century Pleasures: prose on poetry, Robert Hass, New York: Ecco Press, 1984, ISBN 0-88001-045-2
• "Edward Taylor: What was he up to?", Robert Hass, in Green Thoughts, Green Shades: Essays by contemporary poets on the early modern lyric, Jonathan F. S. Post (editor), Berekeley: University of California Press, 2002, ISBN 0-520-21455-2

Translations

• The Separate Notebooks, Czesław Miłosz (translated by Robert Hass and Robert Pinsky with the author and Renata Gorczynski), New York: Ecco Press, 1984, ISBN 0-88001-031-2
• Unattainable Earth, Czesław Miłosz (translated by author and Robert Hass), New York: Ecco Press, 1986, ISBN 0-88001-098-3
• Provinces, Czesław Miłosz (translated by author and Robert Hass), Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1991, ISBN 0-88001-321-4
• The Essential Haiku: Versions of Bashō, Buson, and Issa, Bashō Matsuo, Buson Yosano, Issa Kobayashi (edited with verse translation by Robert Hass), Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1994, ISBN 0-88001-372-9
• Facing the River: new poems, Czesław Miłosz (translated by author and Robert Hass), Hopewell, NJ: Ecco Press, 1995, ISBN 0-88001-404-0
• Road-Side Dog, Czesław Miłosz (translated by author and Robert Hass), New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998, ISBN 0-374-25129-0
• Treatise on Poetry, Czesław Miłosz (translated by author and Robert Hass), New York: Ecco Press, 2001, ISBN 0-06-018524-4
• Second Space: new poems, Czesław Miłosz (translated by author and Robert Hass), New York: Ecco Press, 2004, ISBN 0-06-074566-5

Awards

• Yale Series of Younger Poets Award, 1972, for Field Guide
• William Carlos Williams Award, 1979, for Praise
• National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism, 1984, for Twentieth Century Pleasures
• National Book Critics Circle Award for poetry, 1996, for Sun Under Wood

The William Carlos Williams Award is given out by the Poetry Society of America. ... Praise is the act of making positive statements about a person, object or idea, either in public or privately. ... The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American association of approximately seven hundred book reviewers. ... The National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) is an American association of approximately seven hundred book reviewers. ...

External links

• Hass's Academy Of American Poets page
• Hass pays tribute to Griffin Trust Lifetime Recognition Award recipient Robin Blaser (audio clip)
• Two poems (Meditations at Lagunitas and Misery and Slendor) from the Robert Hass page, courtesy of UIUC.