Poem of the week: Life is a Dream by John Ashbery Read moreFew poets were so exalted in their lifetimes. Ashbery was the first living poet to have a volume published by the Library of America dedicated exclusively to his work. His 1975 collection, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror, was the rare winner of the American book world’s unofficial triple crown: the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle prize. Writer Joan Didion once attended an Ashbery reading simply because she wanted to determine what the poet was writing about. In 2011, he was given an honorary National Book Award for lifetime achievement and declared he was “quite pleased” with his “status in the world of writers”.

Source: The Guardian September 03, 2017 20:26 UTC