New England Poet Galway Kinnell (1927-2014)

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The poet Galway Kinnell passed away at his home in Sheffield, Vt, on Tuesday, October 28, 2014, at age 87.   His poetry over the past 50 years sought to bear witness to the richness of being he discovered in all living things, the beauty of language and art, and the social and political events, conditions and struggles he observed during his lifetime.

He was born in Providence, RI, the youngest son of four children born to immigrant parents.  His father, James Kinnell, was a carpenter from Scotland, and his mother, Elizabeth Miles, came from Ireland.

Kinnell published ten books of poetry, and his collection of Selected Poems, published in 1982 won the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 and also shared the National Book Award that year.  He was also recipient of the MacArthur Foundation Award and was Vermont's poet laureate.

The Poetry Foundation has a full biography of his work, including essays, interviews and translations of European poets like Francois Villon and Ranier Maria Rilke. 

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