Leo Connellan

Leo Connellan (November 30, 1928 – February 22, 2001) was an American poet of the Beat Generation born in Portland, Maine, who served as Connecticut's Poet Laureate from 1996 until his death in 2001.

For the Australian politician, see Leo Connellan (politician).

Leo Connellan
Born(1928-11-28)November 28, 1928
Portland, Maine
DiedFebruary 22, 2001(2001-02-22) (aged 72)
Sprague, Connecticut
OccupationBeat Poet, Poet Laureate of Connecticut
NationalityAmerican
Notable awardsShelly Memorial Award

Life

Leo Connellan grew up in Rockland, Maine, attended the University of Maine and served in the U.S. Army.[1] Mainly in the 1950s, when he was between the ages of 19 and 32, Connellan travelled the contiguous 48 states, going back and forth between New York City and California.[2] At age 32, he married his wife Nancy, and took work as a salesman after his daughter Amy was born, moving his family to Connecticut in 1969 to take over a new sales territory in New England.[3] He lived at the time of his death in Sprague, Connecticut.[4] He was the uncle of Wall Street businessman Peter Connellan.[5]

Work as a poet

During the 1950s, Leo Connellan lived in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, which puts him in the Beat Generation of poets.[6] Connellan's rough, "everyman" lyricism won him the admiration of such poet-critics as Karl Shapiro,[7] Richard Eberhart,[8] Richard Wilbur,[9] and David B. Axelrod.[10] Connellan won the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America[11] and served as Connecticut's second Poet Laureate from 1996 until his death.[5] His duties in this post were little defined, but Connellan said he saw promoting poetry in schools and supporting new writers as among his most important responsibilities.[12] From 1987 until the time of his death, he was poet-in-residence for the Connecticut State University System.[13] He was designated one of Maine's most prominent poets in the Maine Literary Hall of Fame.[14]

Connellan took among his themes the fishing and lobstering industries in Maine, and the lives of New York commuters.[5] His work featured in anthologies, including Wesley McNair's The Maine Poets: An Anthology of Verse,[15] and the Curbstone Press's Poetry like bread anthology of "poets of the political imagination."[16]

Cover of Crossing America, considered by many to be Connellan at his best.

List of Publications
  • The Maine Poems (1999)
  • Short Poems, City Poems, 1944--1998 (1998)
  • Provincetown and Other Poems (1995)
  • New and Collected Poems (1989)
  • The Clear Blue Lobster-Water Country: A Trilogy (1985)[17]
  • Shatterhouse (1983)
  • Massachusetts Poems (1981)
  • The Gunman and Other poems (1979)
  • Death in Lobster Land: New Poems (1978)
  • First Selected Poems (1976)[18]
  • Crossing America (1976)
  • Another Poet in New York (1975)
  • Penobscot Poems (1974)

References
  1. "Leo Connellan, Connecticut's poet laureate, 72". New York Times. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  2. Wolf, Stephen (2007). I Speak of the City. Connecticut University Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780231140652.
  3. Bernstein, Hattie (10 December 1989). "Poet teaches by example". Sunday Telegraph (Massachusetts).
  4. Weiss, Tara (24 February 2001). "A working man who wrote poetry: Connecticut's poet laureate dies after suffering massive stroke a week ago". Hartford Courant.
  5. Ryan, Bill (23 June 1996). "A poet laureate's voice for the working class". New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  6. "Leo Connellan". Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  7. "Leo Connellan". Great American Publishing Society.
  8. Battista, Carolyn (2 January 1994). "A down-to-earth poet is an inspiration to students". New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  9. Dufresne, Bethe (18 April 1996). "Connellan is named state poet laureate". The Day.
  10. Axelrod, David B (Spring 2001). "IN MEMORIUM, LEO CONNELLAN". Poetry Bay. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  11. "Leo Connellan, state poet laureate, 72". Associated Press. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  12. Stowe, Stacey (19 March 2000). "It's official: fossil, bug, and bird, but dirt gets a veto". New York Times.
  13. Smith, Martha (5 February 1995). "Leo Connellan: I write about people who struggle just to stay alive". The Providence Journal.
  14. "Maine Literary Hall of Fame". Maine Literature. Retrieved 29 March 2010.
  15. Wesley McNair, ed. (2006). The Maine Poets: An Anthology of Verse. Down East. ISBN 0-89272-708-X.
  16. Zapata, Martin (1994). Poetry like bread. Curbstone Press. ISBN 1-880684-15-2.
  17. Flint, RW (14 July 1985). "Sad and shaggy down east". New York Times.
  18. Carruth, Hayden (23 May 1976). "First selected poems". New York Times.
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