Hyam Plutzik | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 13, 1911 |
| Died | January 8, 1962 (aged 50) |
Hyam Plutzik (July 13, 1911 – January 8, 1962) was an American poet and educator and is best known for Horatio, a long narrative poem that illustrates the illusiveness of memory through a search for the true identity of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Three of Plutzik’s poetry books, including Horatio, were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize,[1] and his work continues to garner praise from leading scholars and critics. Since Plutzik’s death, several new books related to his life and work have been published, with Forewords written by noted poets and scholars, including Anthony Hecht (1987), [./Https://english.yale.edu/people/professors-emeritus/david-kastan David Scott Kastan] (2012), Daniel Halpern (2017), Richard Blanco (2021), and Edward Hirsch (2023). In May 2012, The Paris Review published a feature article on Plutzik: “A Great Stag – Broad Antlered: Rediscovering Hyam Plutzik.”
During his lifetime, Plutzik published poems in the New York Times Sunday Book Review, Sewanee Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Poetry-New York, Hopkins Review, Epoch, Furioso, Prairie Schooner, Yale Review, American Scholar, Antioch Review, New World Writing, The Nation, Saturday Review, Voices, Transatlantic Review, Christian Science Monitor, and Kenyon Review.[2]
According to the Academy of American Poets: "Plutzik’s work examines nature and the paradoxes of time, the relationship between poetry and science, and delves into questions of Jewish history and identity. In his report for the 1960 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, juror Alfred Kreymbourg said of Plutzik, who was a finalist for his book Horatio: "While he is not a musical poet like most of his contemporaries, he more than compensates by the strength and depth of his writing and the power of his visions and personality."[3]