About Russell Edson
Lived 1935 – 2014 (aged 78–79). Russell Edson was an American novelist and poet.
Russell Edson (né Edelstein; 12 December 1928 Edson studied art early in life and attended the Art Students League as a teenager. He began publishing poetry in the 1950s. His honors as a poet include a Guggenheim fellowship, a Whiting Award, and several fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Edson self-published several chapbooks and later, numerous collections of prose poetry, fables, two novels, Gulping's Recital and The Song of Percival Peacock, and a book of plays under the title, The Falling Sickness. His final book was See Jack (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009).
He lived in Darien, Connecticut with his wife Frances.
Selected bibliography Prose poems collections See Jack (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009) The Rooster's Wife: Poems (BOA Editions, Ltd., 2005) The Tormented Mirror (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001) The Tunnel: Selected Poems of Russell Edson (Oberlin College Press, 1994) The Wounded Breakfast (Wesleyan University Press, 1985) With Sincerest Regrets (Burning Deck Press, 1980) The Reason Why the Closet-Man Is Never Sad (Wesleyan University Press, 1977) Edson's Mentality (OINK! Press, 1977) The Intuitive Journey and Other Works (Harper & Row, 1976) The Clam Theater (Wesleyan University Press, 1973) The Childhood Of An Equestrian (Harper & Row, 1973) Ceremonies in Bachelor Space (Grapnel Press, Black Mountain College, 1951)
Chapbooks Wuck Wuck Wuck! (with linocut by Richard Mock, Red Ozier Press, 1984)
Novels Gulping's Recital (Guignol Books, 1984) The Song of Percival Peacock: A Novel (Coffee House Press, 1992)
Short fiction and fables Tick Tock: Short Stories (illustrated with woodcuts, Demitasse/Coffee House Press, 1992) What a Man Can See: Fables (with drawings by Ray Johnson, 1969) The Brain Kitchen: Writings and Woodcuts (Thing Press, 1965) The Very Thing That Happens: Fables and Drawings (New Directions Publishing, 1964) Appearances: Fables and Drawings (Thing Press, 1961) A Stone Is Nobody's: Fables and Drawings (Thing Press, 1961)
Plays The Falling Sickness: A Book of Plays (New Directions Publishing, 1975)
Music Ketchup opera in 2 acts. Text By Russell Edson, music by Franklin Stover. Scored for 2 voices & chamber orchestra. The Song of Percival Peacock - an entertainment for reed quintet and narrator set to prose poems of Russell Edson, by Franklin Stover. (Edition Hohenstaufen, 2017)
Honors and awards 1992 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship 1989 Whiting Award 1981 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship 1976 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship 1974 Guggenheim Fellowship
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Important facts
People in Russell Edson's life
Named in this biography and alive at the same time
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Russell Edson's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Russell Edson?
American writer
When was Russell Edson born?
Russell Edson was born in 1935 in Connecticut.
When did Russell Edson die?
Russell Edson died on 29 April 2014 in Stamford.
What was Russell Edson's occupation?
Russell Edson was a novelist and poet.
What nationality was Russell Edson?
Russell Edson was American.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Russell Edson. https://biography.guide/russell-edson/
MLA: "Russell Edson." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/russell-edson/.
Chicago: "Russell Edson." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/russell-edson/.
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