Flashback
20 years ago
Creeley named Poet Laureate of New York State
In 1989, Robert Creeley, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Professor of Poetics in the Department of English, was named Poet Laureate of New York State. The official title of the position is the New York State Walt Whitman Citation of Merit for poets.
Creeley was only the second poet to be named to the prestigious position, which was established in 1985. During his two-year term, Creeley earned an honorarium of $10,000 to promote and encourage poetry within the state. During that time, he published a number of works, including “Selected Poems” (1991).
A founder of the Black Mountain school of poetry and editor of the Black Mountain Review, Creeley is considered one of the most influential modern American poets. He was a member of the UB faculty from 1966 to 2003, and was key to the rise of the Department of English to prominence during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1999, he received the prestigious Bollingen Prize, presented biennially by Yale University to an American poet.
In October 2006, less than a year after his death and during the infamous "October Surprise" storm, UB sponsored a three-day conference on his work. The weather did not deter the poets and scholars who found a way to continue with the conference and celebration of Creeley's life despite travel bans.
—Karen Morse and Kuniko Simon, University Archives
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