Ruth Whitman

Ruth Whitman
Born
Ruth Bashein

(1922-05-28)May 28, 1922
New York City, New York
DiedDecember 1, 1999(1999-12-01) (aged 77)
Rhode Island
Occupation(s)Poet
Translator
Professor
Notable workTamsen Donner: A Woman's Journey

Ruth Whitman (May 28, 1922 – December 1, 1999)[1] was an American poet, translator, and professor.

Career

Whitman received a B.A. and an M.A. from Radcliffe College, and also taught at Radcliffe,[2] and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[3]

Her eighth and last book is Hatshepshut, Speak to me (Wayne State University Press, 1992), and her most well-known and well-regarded is Tamsen Donner: A Woman’s Journey.

She also translated poetry from Yiddish, and wrote the beloved poem Sisters.[3]

Her honors and awards include a Senior Fulbright Writer-in-Residence Fellowship to Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a Bunting Institute Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship.[4] She won a 1969 National Jewish Book Award in the English Poetry category for The Marriage Wig and Other Poems.[5]

Her poems were published in literary journals and magazines including AGNI[6] and Ploughshares.[7] She was an early cooperative member of Alice James Books,[8] and was the poetry editor for Radcliffe Quarterly from 1980 - 1995.[1]

Her papers are held at the Hollis Archives at Harvard Library.[9]

Personal life

The oldest daughter of Meyer David and Martha H. Bashein, né Sherman, Whitman was born on May 28, 1922, in New York City.

At the time of her death, she lived in Middletown, Rhode Island, and was married to Morton Sacks, a painter, and had three children, Rachel, Lee, and David.

Her first marriage was to Cedric Whitman and her second to Firman Houghton.[1][3]

Published works

Full-length Poetry Collections

  • Hatshepshut, Speak to me (Wayne State University Press, 1992)
  • Laughing Gas: Poems, New and Selected, 1963-1990 (Wayne State University Press, 1990)
  • The testing of Hanna Senesh (Wayne State University Press, 1986, with a historical background by Livia Rothkirchen)
  • Permanent Address (Alice James Books, 1980)
  • Tamsen Donner: A Woman's Journey (Alice James Books, 1977)
  • The Passion of Lizzie Borden (October House, 1973)
  • The Marriage Wig and Other Poems (Harcourt, Brace & World, 1968)
  • Blood & Milk Poems (Clarke & Way, 1963)

Translations

  • The selected poems of Jacob Glatstein (October House, 1972)
  • An anthology of modern Yiddish poetry (October House, 1966)

Non-fiction

  • Becoming a Poet: Source, Process, Practice (The Writer, Inc., 1982)

References

  1. ^ a b c Rothchild, Sylvia (31 December 1999). "Ruth Whitman". The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Jewish Women's Archive. Archived from the original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  2. ^ Feruson, Mary Anne (1973). Images of Women in Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 89. ISBN 0395139066.
  3. ^ a b c "Ruth Whitman, Poet, Former Radcliffe Seminars Instructor, Dies". The Harvard University Gazette. 9 December 1999. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Tamsen Donner - Ruth Whitman". Alice James Books. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008.
  5. ^ "National Jewish Book Awards - Past Winners - 1969". Jewish Book Council. Archived from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  6. ^ "AGNI 8". AGNI Online (Contents list for print magazine). 15 May 1978. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  7. ^ "Ruth Whitman". Ploughshares. Emerson College. Archived from the original on 5 June 2021. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
  8. ^ Alice James Books > About Us Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "Collection: Papers of Ruth Whitman, 1930-1998 (inclusive), 1940-1996 (bulk)". Hollis Archives. Harvard Library. Archived from the original on 24 September 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2023.

Sources