Mark Strand

On April 11th, 1934 in Canada, Mark Strand was brought into the world by a traveling salesman and painter. His fathers profession resulted in Strand's nomadic childhood, in which lived in multiple towns and countries. As he grew his interest in the arts was nearly forced upon him by his mother, leading to his BFA from Yale University(1959) where he studied painting. Shortly after he realized his disinterest in the art, he partook in the Iowa Writers Workshop and earned a Masters in the Fine Arts. His poetry is influenced by European writers such as Kafka, as well as Latin American surrealism. His interpretation of vivid images within his poetry is quite similar to the paintings Edward Hopper. In 1981 The American Academy of Arts and Letters elected Strand a member, and following this he received many grants and prizes, leading to his Pulitzer Prize in 1999. He has written eleven books on poetry and continues teaching at Columbia University.