You Drive Me Crazy (10 page)
L
INDA
P
ASTAN
(1932–): Her collection
PM/AM: New and Selected Poems
was nominated for an American Book Award in 1983. She lives and works in Potomac, Maryland.
J
ÁNOS
P
ILINSZKY
(1921–1981): Influential Hungarian poet whose work deals with religious and metaphysical themes. During World War II he spent time as a soldier and prisoner of war. He was awarded the Kossuth Prize in 1980.
S
YLVIA
P
LATH
(1932–1963): Poet and writer born in Boston. Her most famous works include “Ariel” and the novel
The Bell Jar.
Her work has been widely anthologized and taught in universities.
J
ACQUES
P
RÉVERT
(1900–1977): Popular and influential French poet whose works include
Paroles
(1946) and
Spectacle
(1951).
R
UMI
(1207–1273): Thirteenth-century Persian poet.
W
ILLIAM
S
HAKESPEARE
(1564–1616): Believed by many to be the greatest writer in the English language, he acted, lived, and wrote in London and Stratford.
E
LEANOR
S
TANFORD
(1976–) was a Henry Hoyns Fellow at the University of Virginia, 2003–4. She has an MA in English from the University of Wisconsin and spent two years in the Peace Corps in the Cape Verde Islands. Her poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in
Poetry, Ploughshares, Callaloo
, the
Indiana Review
, and other journals.
W
ALLACE
S
TEVENS
(1879–1955): A poet and insurance executive who lived in Hartford, Connecticut, his collections of poetry include
Harmonium
and
Collected Poems.
E
LIZABETH
A
SH
V
ÉLEZ
(1945–): A journalist and writer, Vélez teaches at Georgetown University.
L
ARRY
V
ÉLEZ
(1945–): A writer and poet, he currently lives and works in Washington, D.C.
J
OHN
A. W
ILLIAMS
(1925–): A novelist, essayist, playwright, and poet, Williams was a leading figure of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and '70s. His works include the novels
The Man Who Cried I Am, Click Song
, and
Clifford's Blues;
the libretto for the opera
Vanqui;
and the poetry collection
Safari West
, for which he won the American Book Award.
W
ILLIAM
C
ARLOS
W
ILLIAMS
(1883–1963): Winner of both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize, Williams practiced medicine in Rutherford, New Jersey. His collections include
Selected Poems
and
The Broken Span.
J
AMES
W
RIGHT
(1927–80): Highly regarded American poet who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966. His work includes
To a Blossoming Pear Tree
and
This Journey.
A
L
Z
OLYNAS
(1945–): Austrian-born poet, naturalized in the United States in 1965, who has taught in universities across the country. His work has been anthologized in several collections. He currently lives in San Diego, California, with his wife.
T
he editors would like to thank their families, colleagues, and friends: in particular, our gifted editor, Amy Einhorn, her assistant, James Schiff, our dream agent, Miriam Altshuler, and her assistant, Sara McGhee, former editor and current friend and reader, Molly Chehak, permissions' dude, Fred Courtwright, inspirational poets Carolyn Creedon and Marie Ponsot, the ever-brilliant and beautiful Ericka Souter, and as always, Andrew Carroll of the American Poetry and Literacy Project.
We'd also like to thank our friends at Georgetown University: Leona Fisher, Dennis Williams, Norma Tilden, Pamela Fox, Maureen Corrigan, David Gewater, Ricardo Ortiz, and Lalitha Gopalan. Thanks also to Sue, John, and Garry Clifford, all the little Cliffords, Shelly Nelson, Barbara Lanphier, Colleen O'Connor, Lisa Ling, Renee Blaloch, Jean Ash, and Politics and Prose Bookstore. Special thanks to all of our friends in Las Vegas, New Mexico: Kak, Wid, Linda, Keith, Jean and Jim, and the staff at the Plaza Hotel.
Mary also extends gratitude to Bob and Kathy Heider, the obstetrics nursing staff at Martha Jefferson Hospital, Betsy Collins and the MJH prenatal exercise gang, magic babysitter Lauren Wencel, the Cville Winter Moms, and the remarkable, life-saving Cathy Quick. She also thanks siblings James Theodore Esselman and Julie Esselman Tomz, for steadfast support. And giddy gratitude to her husband, Greg, who drives her crazy-happy with love and laughter every day.
Elizabeth thanks Larry and reminds him that, so far, we have “by our wills survived to keep the jeweled prize always at our finger tips.”
M
ARY
D. E
SSELMAN
is a teacher and writer. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia, with her husband and son.
E
LIZABETH
A
SH
V
ÉLEZ
is director of the Community Scholars Program at Georgetown University, where she also teaches women's studies and nonfiction writing.
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