Literary Birthday – 29 August – Thom Gunn

Thom Gunn was born 29 August 1929, died 25 April 2004.

Five Quotes

  1. As humans we look at things and think about what we’ve looked at. We treasure it in a kind of private art gallery.
  2. A literary influence is never just a literary influence. It’s also an influence in the way you see everything – in the way you feel your life.
  3. I admired what my students were writing, but I think their improvement doesn’t directly result from me but from being in a class, being with each other.
  4. We control the content of our dreams.
  5. Deep feeling doesn’t make for good poetry. A way with language would be a bit of help.

Thom Gunn was an Anglo-American poet who is well-known for The Man With Night Sweats. He won numerous literary awards including the Levinson Prize, a Rockefeller Award, and the W. H. Smith Award. He was awarded fellowships from the Guggenheim and MacArthur foundations.

by Amanda Patterson

Please click here for our Literary Birthday Calendar

Posted on: 29th August 2014
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