M. L. Rosenthal
Macha Louis Rosenthal was an influential American poet and literary critic, born on March 14, 1917, in Washington, D.C. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1937 and subsequently earned his master’s degree there the following year. In 1939, he began his teaching career at Michigan State University before moving to New York University, where he became a professor and later professor emeritus. Throughout his academic career, Rosenthal published significant works on poetry criticism, including "Modern Poetry" and "The Modern Poets: A Critical Introduction." His poetry collections, starting with "Blue Boy on Skates: Poems" in 1964, received mixed reviews, although he gained recognition over time, including a nomination for a National Book Award in 1967. Rosenthal also served as a visiting poet in various countries and held editorial positions in notable publications. He passed away on July 21, 1996, leaving behind a legacy in both poetry and literary criticism.
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Subject Terms
M. L. Rosenthal
Writer
- Born: March 14, 1917
- Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
- Died: July 21, 1996
- Place of death: Suffern, New York
Biography
Poet and literary critic Macha Louis Rosenthal was born on March 14, 1917, in Washington, D.C., to Jacob and Ethel (Brown) Rosenthal. In 1937, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago, and a year later he received his master’s degree from the same university. On January 7, 1939, Rosenthal married Victoria Himmelstein, a psychiatric social worker, and the couple had three children.
Rosenthal began teaching English at Michigan State University in East Lansing in 1939, and after six years there he accepted a teaching post at New York University, first as a teaching fellow, then as a professor. He was a professor emeritus of English at the university from 1987 to 1996. Rosenthal earned a Ph.D. from New York University in 1949 and also studied at the University of Michigan and Johns Hopkins University.
By 1960, Rosenthal had published several books of poetry criticism, including Modern Poetry (1955), coauthored with J. M. Smith, and The Modern Poets: A Critical Introduction (1960). He also was awarded fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1941 and 1951 and received Guggenheim fellowships in 1960 and 1964. He published his first poetry collection, Blue Boy on Skates: Poems, in 1964. The book was coldly received by the critics, who questioned Rosenthal’s switch from poetry critic to poet. His second volume of poetry, Beyond Power: New Poems (1969), pays homage, in tone, to poets William Butler Yeats and William Wordsworth. This collection was somewhat better regarded than his first, but the critics still considered his poetry weaker than his prose. However, in 1967 Rosenthal was selected as a National Book Award finalist. By the time he published a volume of his collected work, Poems, 1964-1980 (1981), he had earned appreciation for his poetry. Reviewer Joseph A. Lipari praised the collection’s for its “ impressive range and intelligence.”
Rosenthal was a visiting poet in Pakistan, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, France, and Israel and served s director of the Poetics Institute at New York University. He also was poetry editor for The Nation, the Humanist, and Present Tense, and contributed literary criticism and poetry to New Statesman, Poetry, the Spectator and The New Yorker. He died on July 21, 1996.