Mary Barnard

For the British painter, see Mary Baylis Barnard.
Mary Barnard
BornDecember 6, 1909
Vancouver, Washington, U.S.
DiedAugust 25, 2001(2001-08-25) (aged 91)
Notable awards

Mary Ethel Barnard (December 6, 1909 – August 25, 2001) was an American poet, biographer and Greek-to-English translator. She is known for her elegant rendering of the works of Sappho, a translation which has never gone out of print.[1]

Paideuma: A Journal Devoted to Ezra Pound Scholarship, Issue 94, was exclusively dedicated to her work and her correspondence with Pound.[1] Barnard won a Levinson Award of Poetry from Poetry Magazine in 1935, and an Elliston Award for her Collected Poems, a Western States Book Award in 1986, (for Time and the White Tigress).[2] Among other honors were: the Washington State Governor's Award for achievement in the literary arts,[3] and the May Sarton Award for Poetry from the New England Poetry Club in 1987.[4]

Biography

Barnard was born in Vancouver, Washington[5][6] to Samuel Melvin and Bertha Hoard Barnard.[7] Her father worked in the timber industry; growing up, she saw much of the backwoods in the vicinity as she accompanied her father to logging camps.[8] She studied at Reed College, just south of the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon, graduating in 1932.[2] While at Reed, Barnard began to read modernist poets, such as T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, H. D., and E. E. Cummings.[9]

After graduating from Reed, Barnard worked for a few years as a social worker for the Emergency Relief Administration.[10] In 1935, Barnard was awarded the Levinson Prize by the journal Poetry; she used the prize money to fund a move to New York state the following year.[11] Barnard won Yaddo residencies in 1936 and 1938.[8] In 1939, through the influence of Ezra Pound,[12] she was made the first curator of The Poetry Collection at the Lockwood Memorial Library (University at Buffalo, New York); in that role she arranged readings and amassed the writing of many modern poets.[13] Some of her first poetry was published in 1940, in Five Young American Poets, published by New Directions Publishing founded by James Laughlin.[14]

She worked from 1945 to 1950 as research assistant for Carl van Doren, biographer of Benjamin Franklin and generalist historian of Americana.[15] Van Doren and Barnard had a common interest in the poet Elinor Wylie.[16] Barnard also worked as a freelance writer. Barnard was also a member of the American Association of University Women (AAUW).[17]

Barnard was mentored via airmail from Italy by Ezra Pound after she sent him six poems, and was introduced to the likes of William Carlos Williams and Marianne Moore.[1] This generated a lifetime of lengthy correspondence with the former in addition to comprehensive instruction on the art of poetry from Pound. Pound encouraged Barnard to use translations to hone her poetic abilities.[1] Pound also encouraged Barnard to visit Europe, meet H.D. – which did not happen despite pressure from Pound – and generally witness the continental European scene. In 1958, inspired by Salvatore Quasimodo's anthology Greci Lirici, Barnard published Sappho: A New Translation, with the encouragement of Pound, whom she sent the first drafts of the work.[18]

She returned to Vancouver in 1957[19] after fifteen years on the East Coast and continued to write, mostly original poetry and prose, until her death.[20]

Works

  • A Few Poems (1952)
  • Sappho: A New Translation (University of California Press, 1958)
  • Mythmakers (Ohio University Press, 1966)
  • Collected Poems (Breitenbush Books, 1979, introduction by William Stafford)
  • Three Fables (Breitenbush Books, 1983)
  • Assault on Mt. Helicon: A Literary Memoir (University of California Press, 1984)
  • Time and the White Tigress (Breitenbush Books, 1986, linocuts by Anita Bigelow)
  • Nantucket Genesis: The Tale of My Tribe (1988, memoir in verse)

Works cited

  • Barnard, Mary (1984). Assault on Mount Helicon: A Literary Memoir.
  • Barnsley, Sarah (2013). Mary Barnard, American Imagist. State University of New York Press. ISBN 9781438448572.
  • Barnard, Mary; Barnsley, Sarah (2025). Mary Barnard: complete poems and selected translations. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 9798855802641.

References

  1. ^ a b c d George, Anita (2005). "Barnard, Mary". The Ezra Pound Encyclopedia. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 19. ISBN 9780313304484.
  2. ^ a b "Mary Barnard". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2014-12-25.
  3. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. xix.
  4. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. 20.
  5. ^ "'Vancouver should be proud' of little-known author Mary Barnard". The Columbian. 2025-04-24. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  6. ^ "Mary Ethel Barnard '32". Reed Magazine | In Memoriam. Retrieved 2025-06-08.
  7. ^ Albright, Mary Ann (6 December 2009). "Late poet's influence lasts". The Columbian. ProQuest 253392811.
  8. ^ a b Barnsley 2013, p. 12.
  9. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. 24.
  10. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. 15.
  11. ^ Barnard & Barnsley 2025, p. 3.
  12. ^ Barnard & Barnsley 2025, p. 4.
  13. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. 2.
  14. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. 11.
  15. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. 19.
  16. ^ Barnard 1984, p. 40.
  17. ^ "Bardnard Biography-long version". marybarnard.com. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  18. ^ Piantanida, Cecilia (2021). Sappho and Catullus in 20th Century Italian and American Poetry. Bloomsbury. p. 110.
  19. ^ Donahue, Bill (1 September 2009). "Channelling Sappho". Reed Magazine.
  20. ^ Barnsley 2013, p. xvi.
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