James Schuyler

James Marcus Schuyler (November 9, 1923 – April 12, 1991) was an American poet. His awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his 1980 collection The Morning of the Poem. He was a central figure in the New York School and is often associated with fellow New York School poets John Ashbery, Frank O'Hara, Kenneth Koch, and Barbara Guest.

Life and death James Marcus Schuyler was the son of Marcus Schuyler (a reporter) and Margaret Daisy Connor Schuyler.

Born in Chicago, he spent his teen years in East Aurora, New York. After graduating high school, Schuyler attended Bethany College in West Virginia from 1941 to 1943, though he was not a very successful student; in a later interview, he recalled, "I just played bridge all the time." underwent several years of psychoanalysis and withstood many traumatic experiences. One of these includes a "near death experience" in a fire which he caused by smoking in bed.

In a spring 1990 special issue of the Denver Quarterly that was written by Barbara Guest in devotion to Schuyler's work, Guest refers to Schuyler as an "intimist," saying:

Inspiration and style

Schuyler's move to Italy, as Auden's typist, was accompanied by his intention of writing. In 1981 he was said to have recalled "that he found Auden's elaborate formalism 'inhibiting'." This was likely an influence to his own "conversational style and proselike line". and a 1985 recipient of the Whiting Award.

His poem The Morning of the Poem is considered to be among the best long poems of the postmodern era.

Published works

Numerous works by Schuyler, including books, plays, recordings, and other pieces have been published throughout the years. The following is a list of items that he authored.

Books

Alfred and Guinevere (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1958). Salute (New York: Tiber Press, 1960). May 24 or So (New York: Tibor de Nagy Editions, 1966). Freely Espousing (Garden City, N.Y.: Paris Review Editions/Doubleday, 1969; New York: SUN, 1979). A Nest of Ninnies, by Schuyler and John Ashbery (New York: Dutton, 1969; Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1987). The Crystal Lithium (New York: Random House, 1972). A Sun Cab (New York: Adventures in Poetry, 1972). Hymn to Life (New York: Random House, 1974). The Fireproof Floors of Witley Court; English Songs and Dances (Newark & West Burke, Vt.: Janus Press, 1976). Song (Syracuse, N.Y.: Kermani Press, 1976). The Home Book: Prose and Poems, 1951–1970, edited by Trevor Winkfield (Calais, Vt.: Z Press, 1977). What's For Dinner? (Santa Barbara, Cal.: Black Sparrow Press, 1978). The Morning of the Poem (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1980). Collabs, by Schuyler and Helena Hughes (New York: Misty Terrace Press, 1980). Early in '71 (Berkeley, Cal.: The Figures, 1982). A Few Days (New York: Random House, 1985). For Joe Brainard (New York: Dia Art Foundation, 1988). Selected Poems (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1988; Manchester, UK: Carcanet, 1990). Collected Poems (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1993). Two Journals: James Schuyler, Darragh Park, by Schuyler and Darragh Park (New York: Tibor de Nagy, 1995). Diary of James Schuyler (Santa Rosa, Cal.: Black Sparrow Press, 1996). Last Poems (London: Slow Dancer Press, 1999). Just the Thing: Selected Letters of James Schuyler, 1951–1991, edited by William Corbett (New York: Turtle Point Press, 2004). The Letters of James Schuyler to Frank O'Hara, edited by William Corbett (New York: Turtle Point Press, 2006). Other Flowers: Uncollected Poems, edited by James Meetze and Simon Pettet (New York, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2010).

Play productions

Presenting Jane, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Poet's Theatre, 1952. Shopping and Waiting: A Dramatic Pause, New York, American Theatre for Poets, 1953. Unpacking the Black Trunk, by Schuyler and Kenward Elmslie, New York, American Theatre for Poets, 1964. The Wednesday Club, by Schuyler and Elmslie, New York, American Theatre for Poets, 1964.

Recording

Hymn to Life & Other Poems, Watershed Intermedia, 1989.

Other

"Poet and Painter Overture", in The New American Poetry, edited by Donald M. Allen (New York: Evergreen-Grove, 1960), pp. 418–419. Appearance and Reality: October Third to Thirty-first, 1960, introduction by Schuyler (New York: David Herbert Gallery, 1960). Robert Dash: November 11 – December 5, 1970, introduction by Schuyler (New York: Graham Gallery, 1970). Penguin Modern Poets 24, edited by John Ashbery (Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin, 1973) – includes poems by Schuyler. Broadway: A Poets and Painters Anthology, edited by Schuyler and Charles North (New York: Swollen Magpie Press, 1979). Broadway 2: A Poets and Painters Anthology, edited by Schuyler and North (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Hanging Loose Press, 1989). Four by Two magazine: in 2015 the international quarterly Four by Two magazine, in collaboration with Raymond Foye, ran a series of previously unpublished drafts of Schuyler's poems, some of them in uncorrected typescript.

Papers

The major collection of Schuyler's papers, covering the years from 1947 to 1991, is held in the Mandeville Department of Special Collections at the University of California, San Diego.