May Swenson
May Swenson | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 28, 1913 Logan, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | December 4, 1989 (aged 76) Salisbury, Maryland, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet and Playwright, Chancellor of Academy of American Poets |
| Alma mater | Utah State University |
Anna Thilda May "May" Swenson (May 28, 1913 – December 4, 1989) was an American poet and playwright. Harold Bloom considered her one of the most important and original poets of the 20th century.
Born to Margaret and Dan Arthur Swenson, she was the eldest of 10 children in a Mormon household where Swedish was spoken regularly and English was a second language. Although her conservative family struggled to accept that she was a lesbian, they remained close throughout her life. Much of her later poetry was devoted to children (e.g. the 1970 collection Iconographs). She also translated the work of contemporary Swedish poets, including the selected poems of Nobel laureate Tomas Tranströmer.