Liam Rector (born Ronald Edward Rector; November 21, 1949 – August 15, 2007) was an American poet, essayist and educator. He had administered literary programs at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. He was also the founder of the graduate Writing Seminars program at Bennington College.[1]
Life and work
Liam's class was one of my favorite experiences at the New School, as I'm sure it was for many others. He was a wonderful man and a terrific poet and teacher. I remember hearing him read at a PSA reading. He read last, I was bored and tired, and he blew the doors off the place. He just exuded a poetic gravitas, and I know few poets who read with such grace and class. I'll miss him.
Ronald Edward Rector was born in Washington, D.C.; he adopted the name Liam in adulthood.[1] He was educated at various undergraduate programs but did not receive a bachelor's degree; he did, however, receive master's degrees in writing from Johns Hopkins University and in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.[1] He was the author of volumes of poetry including The Executive Director of the Fallen World (University of Chicago, 2006), American Prodigal (Story Line, 1994), and The Sorrow of Architecture (Dragon Gate, 1984).
Rector was married three times, with the first two marriages ending in divorce; he had a daughter from his second marriage.[1] With his third wife, Tree Swenson,[1] he edited On the Poetry of Frank Bidart: Fastening the Voice to the Page (University of Michigan, 2007), and edited The Day I Was Older: On the Poetry of Donald Hall (Story Line, 1989).
Rector committed suicide by gunshot in his Greenwich Village apartment on August 15, 2007, at the age of 57. He had incurred a series of health problems in his last years, including heart disease and cancer, and mentioned this in his suicide note.[1]
Legacy
The Liam Rector First Book Prize for Poetry is awarded annually by Briery Creek Press to honor the best emerging poets with their first full-length poetry publication.
Bibliography
Poetry
The Sorrow of Architecture: Poems. Port Townsend, WA: Dragon Gate, 1984.
American Prodigal: Poems. Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1994.
except from An interview by Sarah Kanning this link includes Rector poems "About the Money" and "In My Memory Eddie" published in the American Poetry Review (Sept/Oct 2005)
"autobiographical note" A piece Rector wrote for the Web site PoetryNet when he was their Poet of the Month for September 2004; including "When the Parents Went", one of several Rector poems published at PoetryNet when Rector was Poet of the Month during September 2004
Poems by: Liam Rector - links to four poems at the Writer’s Almanac site popularized by Garrison Keillor: “First Marriage”, “The Old Man and the Motorcycle”, “Off to the Country of Cancer”, and ”Twenty-three”
