Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur was born in New York City and received his B.A. from Amherst College and an M.A. from Harvard. He has taught on the faculties of Harvard, Wellesley, Wesleyan, and Smith. Mr. Wilbur’s publications include six volumes of poetry and two collections of his selected verse, a volume of his collection verse, translations of Molière’s four most outstanding verse plays, the musical CANDIDE, for which he supplied most of the lyrics, a collection of his prose, and two books for children. His highly praised verse translations of Molière’s plays THE MISANTHROPE, TARTUFFE, THE SCHOOL FOR WIVES, and THE LEARNED LADIES have all been performed in New York and are frequently presented by resident theatre companies throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain, including productions at Stratford, Ontario, and the National Theatre in London. He has also completed verse translations of two of Racine’s great tragedies, ANDROMACHE and PHAEDRA. Among Mr. Wilbur’s awards are two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Book Award, Edna St. Vincent Millay Award, Bollingen Award, Ford Foundation Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and Prix de Rome Fellowship. He has served as both Chancellor and President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1987 he was named the second Poet Laureate of the United States, succeeding Robert Penn Warren.