Gerald Stern

**Gerald Stern** (February 22, 1925 - October 28, 2022) was an American poet, essayist and educator. He was the author of twenty collections of poetry and four books of essays. Stern taught literature and creative writing at Temple University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Raritan Valley Community College, and Iowa Writers' Workshop.

From 2009, Stern was the distinguished poet-in-residence and a member of the faculty of Drew Universitys graduate program for a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in poetry. In 2000, New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman appointed Stern as the state's first poet laureate.

Stern's poetry was nominated for and honored with a number of awards. _Leaving Another Kingdom_ (1990) was a finalist for the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. _This Time: New and Selected Poems_ (1998) won the National Book Award in 1998. _American Sonnets_ (2002) was a finalist for the 2003 International Griffin Poetry Prize.

Praise for Stern's poetry came late in life. One reviewer called _Lucky Life_, published when Stern was over 50, "a cornerstone in American poetry." He died in The Bronx, New York City when he was 97 years old.

## Books

- _The Naming of Beasts_ (1973)
- _Rejoicings: Selected Poems 1966-72_ (1973)
- _Lucky Life_ (1977)
- _The Red Coal_ (1981)
- _Paradise Poems_ (1984)
- _Lovesick_ (1986)
- _Two Long Poems_ (1990)
- _Leaving Another Kingdom: Selected Poems_ (1990)
- _Bread without Sugar_ (1992)
- _Odd Mercy_ (1994)
- _This Time: New and Selected Poems_ (1998)
- _Last Blue_ (2000)
- _American Sonnets_ (2002)
- _Everything Is Burning_ (2005)
- _Save the Last Dance: Poems_ (2008)
- _Early Collected Poems, 1965-1992_ (2010)
- _In Beauty Bright_ (2012)
- _Divine Nothingness_ (2015)
- _Blessed As We Were: Late Selected and New Poems, 2000—2018_ (2020)

## Related pages

- List of poets from North America

## Other websites

- Author Page: Gerald Stern > W. W. Norton
- Biography: Academy of American Poets > Gerald Stern
- _Still Burning_ - A short documentary film about Gerald Stern
- Griffin Poetry Prize biography
- Audio: Gerald Stern reads three poems  from his _Early Collected Poems, 1965 - 1992
- Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip
- Poems & Bio: _Blackbird: An Online Journal of Literature and the Arts_ > Gerald Stern Feature
- Interview: _The Jewish Week_ > May 13, 2009 > _Late-Blooming Poet_ by Eric Herschthal
- Poem: _A Little Poetry_ > Featured Poet: _Grapefruit_ by Gerald Stern
- About Gerald Stern: _IdentityTheory.com_ > February 2009 > _Our Father'' > An essay by Christian Bauman that closes with thoughts on Gerald Stern's poem "Dancing" and provides behind-the-scenes views of Bauman's relationships with Stern and author Chris Hedges and of the writing of Hedges's "What Every Person Should Know About War"
- Poems: german / english in poetenladen (poetshop)
- Gerald Stern Papers http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=ascead&cc=ascead&rgn=main&view=text&didno=US-PPiU-sc200704(Gerald Stern Papers, 1920s-2007, SC.2007.04, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh)

## Infobox (writer)

- **name**: Gerald Stern
- **image**: Stern, Gerald.JPG
- **image size**: 220px
- **caption**: Gerald Stern at the Miami Book Fair International in 2011
- **alt**: Image of Gerald Stern wearing a hat
- **birth place**: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- **occupation**: poet, essayist, educator
- **death place**: New York, NY
- **nationality**: American
- **alma mater**: University of Pittsburgh (BA)
Columbia University (MA)
University of Paris
- **spouse**: Patricia Miller (m.1952, divorced)
- **partner**: Anne Marie Macari
- **children**: 2, Rachael, David