Theodore Roethke - Poetry
Theodore Roethke did not live on Bainbridge Island.
Nevertheless, his connection with the island is significant enough to include
him on this list and embrace him as one of our own. Widely regarded as
one of America's most important poets of the 20th century, Roethke taught at
the University of Washington and visited Bainbridge Island frequently to stay
with friends. It was here, on August 1, 1963 that he passed away at his
friend's estate, now known as the Bloedel Reserve.
Roethke was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for
poetry in 1954 for his book The Waking, and won the annual National Book
Award for Poetry in 1959 for Words for the Wind and again in 1965 for
his posthumously published The Far Field. Bainbridge Island's own
writing community Field's End pays homage to Roethke by taking its name from the title poem in The Far
Field. For more information on Theodore Roethke go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roethke or http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/theodore-roethke.
