Edwin Honig
Edwin Honig was a prominent American poet and translator, born on September 3, 1919, in New York City. His early life was marked by significant personal challenges, including the tragic death of his younger brother, a serious illness, and his parents' divorce, which profoundly influenced his decision to pursue writing. Honig attended several prestigious universities, including Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees after serving in the military during World War II.
He began his academic career as an instructor and later became a poetry editor, ultimately joining the faculty at Brown University, where he taught until becoming professor emeritus in 1982. Honig published several poetry collections, beginning with "The Moral Circus" in 1955, showcasing modernist influences and evolving styles throughout his career. His poetry is noted for its emotional depth, craftsmanship, and attention to detail. Honig received numerous accolades, including Guggenheim fellowships and the Rhode Island Governor's Arts Award, and his contributions were recognized internationally, including being named a Knight of the Military Order of Saint James of the Sword by the President of Portugal. His work remains respected for its learnedness and authenticity.
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Edwin Honig
Poet
- Born: September 3, 1919
- Birthplace: New York, New York
- Died: June 1, 2011
Biography
Edwin Honig was born on September 3, 1919, in New York, New York, to Abraham D. and Jane Honig. He cites three potential influences on his becoming a writer. He was blamed for his younger brother’s accidental death when Edwin was five, he suffered a nearly fatal episode of nephritis when he was nine, and his parents divorced when he was twelve. At this point, he began reading poetry and writing his own, an activity he describes as being like “collecting stamps or marbles” and one which he needed to prevent himself from “choking.” He attended Columbia University and the University of Michigan before enrolling at the University of Wisconsin.
In 1940, Honig married Charlotte Gilchrist, and in 1941, he earned his bachelor of arts degree. After serving as an army infantryman from 1942 to 1946, Honig earned his master of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin in 1947. He worked as an instructor at various universities across the nation, a library assistant at the Library of Congress, and poetry editor for The New Mexico Quarterly before taking a position at Harvard University. During his tenure there (1949-1957), The Moral Circus, Honig’s first volume of poetry, was published (1955). Drawing on his earlier and subsequent reading of T. S. Eliot, Wystan Hugh Auden, Stephen Crane, and other modernist writers, Honig’s early work here and in other publications up until the late 1960’s displays modernist concerns for erudition and technical virtuosity.
Honig left Harvard and joined the faculty of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1957 for the remainder of his teaching career (he became professor emeritus of English in 1982). His wife died in 1963, and that same year he married Margot S. Dennes. They had two children together, Daniel and Jeremy, before they divorced in 1978. Four Springs, published in 1972, marked some changes to Honig’s poetic style, providing a looser, open-ended poetry. But Honig returned in later volumes to his earlier style, adding a dimension of myth not found in those earlier volumes.
Honig received the following awards and honors: Guggenheim fellowships in 1948 and 1962; the Saturday Review prize in 1957; an honorary M.A. from Brown University in 1958; Golden Rose of the New England Poetry Club, 1961; Bollingen grant for translation, 1962; Phi Beta Kappa Poet, 1962; American Academy grant, 1966; National Institute of Arts and Letters grant in literature, 1966; Amy Lowell Traveling Poetry Fellowship, 1969; Rhode Island Governor’s Arts Award, 1971; the National Endowment for the Humanities independent study grant, 1975; translation grant, 1977-1980; Poetry Society of America translation award, 1984; Columbia University Translation Center award, 1985; and he has been decorated by the President of Portugal: Knight of the Military order of Saint James of the Sword, 1987.
Translator and poet Edwin Honig is best known for the depth and authenticity of feeling and perception, the learnedness, the craftsmanship, and acute attention to detail, tone, and style demonstrated in all his writing.