Kenneth Koch was born in Cincinnati on February 27, 1925. Koch’s association with the New York School worked, in effect, as an apprenticeship. Many critics found Koch’s early work obscure, such as
Poems (Tibor de Nagy Gallery 1953), and the epic
Ko, or A Season on Earth (Grove Press, 1959), yet remarked upon his subsequent writing for its clarity,
lyricism, and humor, such as in
The Art of Love (Random House, 1975), which was praised as a graceful, humorous book. His other collections of poetry include
New Addresses (Alfred A. Knopf, 2000), winner of the Phi Beta Kappa Poetry Award and a finalist for the National Book Award;
Straits (Alfred A. Knopf, 1998);
One Train and
On the Great Atlantic Rainway, Selected Poems 1950–1988, both published by Knopf in 1994, which together earned him the Bollingen Prize in 1995;
Seasons of the Earth (Penguin, 1987);
On the Edge (Viking Penguin, 1986);
Days and Nights (Random House, 1982);
The Burning Mystery of Anna in 1951 (Random House, 1979);
The Duplications (Random House, 1977);
The Pleasures of Peace: And Other Poems (Grove Press, 1969);
When the Sun Tries to Go On (Black Sparrow Press, 1969), which was illustrated by Larry Rivers; and
Thank You, and Other Poems (Grove Press, 1962). (
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