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Ralph Angel

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Ralph Angel
Photo by Mary Cahill
Photo by Mary Cahill
Born(1951-05-02)May 2, 1951[1]
Seattle, Washington
DiedMarch 6, 2020(2020-03-06)(aged 68)[2]
OccupationEdith R. White Distinguished Professor,University of Redlands
MFA in Writing, Poetry Faculty,Vermont College of Fine Arts
EducationBA,University of Washington
MFA,University of California, Irvine
Notable worksYour Moon;Exceptions and Melancholies;Poem of the Deep Song(Translation;Federico García Lorca);Twice Removed;Neither World;Anxious Latitudes
Notable awards2013 Green Rose Poetry Prize; 2007 PEN USA Poetry Award; 2003 Willis Barnstone Poetry Translation Prize; 1995 James Laughlin Award of the Academy of American Poets
Website
ralphangel.com

Ralph Angel(May 2, 1951 – March 6, 2020) was an American poet and educator.

Early life and education[edit]

Born on May 2, 1951,[3]inSeattle, Washington,Angel was a second-generation American ofSephardicJewish descent. He attended inner-city public schools in Seattle and, while working on freight trains for theUnion Pacific Railroad,earned hisBachelor of Artsdegree at theUniversity of Washington.He later received aMaster of Fine Artsdegree at theUniversity of California, Irvine,and lived in and aroundLos Angeles.

Career[edit]

Angel traveled widely in Europe, North Africa, and Central and South America.

His first collection of poetry,Anxious Latitudes(Wesleyan University Press, 1986), was widely praised and reviewed. His second book,Neither World(Miami University Press, 1995), which received theJames Laughlin Awardof theAcademy of American Poets,garnered him national prominence. A third work,Twice Removed(Sarabande Books,2001), was nominated for theLos Angeles Times Book Award,and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. His fourth collection,Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986-2006(Sarabande Books, 2006), was honored with the 2007 PEN USA Award for Poetry. His final collection,Your Moon(New Issues Poetry & Prose,2013), was awarded the 2013 Green Rose Poetry Prize.

Angel's translation of theFederico García Lorcacollection,Poema del cante jondo(Poem of the Deep Song), received a Willis Barnstone Poetry Translation Prize. In the "Afterword," Angel commented, "I come from a household of three languages—Ladino, Hebrew, and English—one that I could understand but not speak, one that I could sing but not understand, and one that is the language of my country, at some distance, always, from my home." On translating Lorca's poetry, Angel noted that he was familiar with the music that the poems paid homage to, as "It resembled the incantatory medieval singing of the Sephardic synagogue that I grew up in."

In his 1996Los Angeles Timesreview ofNeither World(Miami University Press, 1995), poetMark Dotyobserved that "The Los Angeles that Angel's poetry occupies and creates is never named, and for good reason, since it is not local but broadly American, a version of the psychological landscape of any American city today."[4]

Angel's poems have appeared in scores of magazines, in the U.S. and abroad, and have been collected in numerous anthologies, includingThe Best American Poetry,American Hybrid,Poets of the New Century,andForgotten Language.Other literary awards included a gift from the Elgin Cox Trust, aPushcart Prize,the Gertrude Stein Award, aFulbright Foundationfellowship, and the Bess Hokin Award of theModern Poetry Association.

In his later years, he was Edith R. White Distinguished Professor at theUniversity of Redlands,and a member of the MFA in Writing faculty atVermont College of Fine Arts.

Death[edit]

On March 9, 2020, University of Redlands Provost Kathy Ogren announced that Ralph Angel had died after suffering from a brief, unspecified illness and subsequent hospitalization.[5]It was later reported that Angel had died on March 6, with his wife Mary by his side.[6]

Books[edit]

  • Your Moon(Kalamazoo, MI:New Issues Poetry & Prose), 2013
  • Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986-2006(Louisville, KY:Sarabande Books), 2006
  • Poem of the Deep Song,Trans.,Federico García Lorca(Louisville, KY: Sarabande Books), 2006
  • Twice Removed(Louisville, KY: Sarabande Books), 2001
  • Neither World(Oxford, OH: Miami University Press), 1995
  • Anxious Latitudes(Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press), 1986
  • History,limited-edition chapbook (San Diego, CA: Atticus Press), 1982

Awards and honors[edit]

  • 2013: Green Rose Poetry Prize, New Issues Poetry & Prose (Your Moon)
  • 2007: PEN USA Literary Award in Poetry (Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986-2006)
  • 2006: Gertrude Stein Award, Sun & Moon Press
  • 2005-06: Elgin Cox Trust Literary Arts Gift
  • 2004, 2002: Poet in Residence, The Poet's House, Falcarragh, Ireland
  • 2003: Willis Barnstone Poetry Translation Prize
  • 1999: Poet in Residence, Fundacíon Valparaiso, Mojacar, Spain
  • 1995: James Laughlin Award, Academy of American Poets (Neither World)
  • 1995: Pushcart Prize
  • 1992-93: Fulbright Foundation Fellowship, Slovenia
  • 1988: Bess Hokin Prize, Modern Language Association

References[edit]

  1. ^"Ralph Angel Obituary (2020) Los Angeles Times".Legacy.com.
  2. ^"Ralph Angel Obituary (2020) Los Angeles Times".Legacy.com.
  3. ^"Ralph Angel Obituary (2020) Los Angeles Times".Legacy.com.
  4. ^"City of Angel: POETRY: NEITHER WORLD, By Ralph Angel (Miami University Press: $9.95;, 94 pp.)".Los Angeles Times.February 25, 1996.
  5. ^"In memoriam: Ralph Angel (1951-2020) | University of Redlands".Redlands.edu.Retrieved2020-03-13.
  6. ^"Ralph Angel Obituary (2020) Los Angeles Times".Legacy.com.

External links[edit]

Poetry online
  • [1]AtPoetrymagazine Web site:
  • "Breaking and Entering"
  • "In Every Direction"
  • "It takes a while to disappear"
  • "Man in a Window"
  • "Tiny"
Reviews