Louise Glück

U.S. poet and Nobel laureate (1943-2023) · United States · Writers · Died at 80

Louise Glück is read about 503 times a day, in 89 languages.

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Her poems stripped feeling to the bone - desire, grief, isolation - and made private ache feel ancient. The Nobel committee called it "austere beauty." Readers called it brutal honesty.

Writers Writer / Author Literature Poetry United States Americas 20th Century

A life in dates

2023Died13 October 20232020Nobel Prize in LiteratureAwardTomas Tranströmer prizeAward2015National Humanities MedalAward2014“You have to live your life if you're going to do original work.”In their words20 November 2014"Internal Tapestries: A Q&A With Louise Glück" by William Giraldi, Poets & Writers (November 20, 2014)Read the whole statement

National Book AwardAward2008Wallace Stevens AwardAward2007PEN New England AwardAward2003United States Poet LaureateAward2001Bollingen PrizeAward1999Lannan Literary AwardsAward1994“It seems to me that the desire to make art produces an ongoing experience of longing, a restlessness sometimes, but not inevitably, played out romantically, or sexually.”In their words"Education of the Poet", in Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry (Hopewell , NJ: The Ecco Press, 1994), p. 16Read the whole statement

1993“The advantage of poetry over life is that poetry, if it is sharp enough, may last.”In their words"Against Sincerity", in American Poetry Review, Vol. XXII, No. 5 (1993), p. 29Read the whole statement

Pulitzer Prize for PoetryAward1990“From the beginning of time, / in childhood, I thought / that pain meant / I was not loved. / It meant I loved.”In their words"First Memory"Read the whole statement

1985“Intense love always leads to mourning.”In their words"For My Father"Read the whole statement

National Book Critics Circle Award for PoetryAward1975“Father has his arm around Tereze. / She squints. My thumb / is in my mouth: my fifth autumn. / Near the copper beech / the spaniel dozes in shadows.”In their words"Still Life"Read the whole statement

Guggenheim FellowshipAward1970National Endowment for the Arts FellowshipAward1943Born22 April 1943

Also in Deutsch

Photos 5

Louise Glück circa 1977

Louise Glück circa 1977 (cropped)

Louise Glück circa 1977 (cropped2)

Louise Glück poster (1977)

Lucy Plaque

In their own words 10

Louise Glück

10 statements, newest first

You have to live your life if you're going to do original work.
Nov 20, 2014, "Internal Tapestries: A Q&A With Louise Glück" by William Giraldi, Poets & Writers (November 20, 2014), Own words
The poem will not survive on content but through voice. By voice I mean the style of thought, for which a style of speech never convincingly substitutes.
Nov 4, 2003, As quoted in "Poet Laureate: Louise Glück and the Public Face of a Private Artist" by Andrew Johnston, The New York Times (November 4, 2003), Own words
It seems to me that the desire to make art produces an ongoing experience of longing, a restlessness sometimes, but not inevitably, played out romantically, or sexually.
1994, "Education of the Poet", in Proofs & Theories: Essays on Poetry (Hopewell , NJ: The Ecco Press, 1994), p. 16, Own words

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Awards

Nobel Prize in Literature2020

Tomas Tranströmer prize2020

National Humanities Medal2015

National Book Award2014

Wallace Stevens Award2008

PEN New England Award2007

United States Poet Laureate2003

Bollingen Prize2001

Lannan Literary Awards1999

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry1993

National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry1985

Guggenheim Fellowship1975

National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship1970

Eunice Tietjens Memorial Prize

William Carlos Williams Award

Family

Louise Glück

Partners

Spouse John Dranow

Child Noah Dranow

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About this person

Louise Glück grew up on Long Island and battled anorexia in high school, an early encounter with the body's refusal that would shadow her work. She studied at Sarah Lawrence and Columbia without finishing a degree, then built a career teaching poetry while writing collections that pulled Greek myth and natural imagery into the service of raw, contemporary feeling. Her poems became known for their emotional intensity and frank sadness, turning personal trauma into something larger - scholars noted how she built personas from autobiography and classical story alike. The accolades followed: Pulitzer, National Book Award, Poet Laureate from 2003 to 2004. In 2020, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. She taught at Yale and Stanford and moved between Cambridge, Vermont, and California until her death in October 2023.

Country

United States

In common with Louise

Joseph BrodskyBoth received United States Poet Laureate

Seamus HeaneyBoth received Lannan Literary Awards

W. H. AudenBoth received Bollingen Prize

Annie DillardBoth received Bollingen Prize

Christopher HitchensBoth received Lannan Literary Awards

Carl SandburgBoth received Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

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