Guy Davenport
Guy Davenport, an American writer and visual artist, was born on November 23, 1927, in Anderson, South Carolina. After graduating from high school early, Davenport attended Duke University where he received his BA in classics and English literature. He went on to receive his BLitt (Bachelor of Letters) at Merton College, Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, as well as his PhD from Harvard University. While at Harvard, Davenport worked as a teaching assistant for Archibald MacLeish. After his return from England in 1950, Davenport was drafted into the U.S. Army for two years. Before earning his PhD, he taught at Washington University in St. Louis. It was during this time that he befriended Ezra Pound, whom Davenport would visit annually at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C., and, later, at Pound’s home in Italy.
Davenport published many books of fiction, essays, and poetry. His first poetry collection, of which only sixty-five copies were printed, was Cydonia Florentia, published in 1966 by the Lowell-Adams House Printers. His other collections include Thasos and Ohio: Poems and Translations, 1950–1980 (North Point Press, 1986); 37 Avenue Samson, Cimetière Montmartre (The King Library Press, 1985); Goldfinch Thistle Star (Red Ozier Press, 1983); The Resurrection in Cookham Churchyard (Jordan Davies, 1982); and Flowers and Leaves: Poema vel Sonata, Carmina Autumni Primaeque Veris Transformationem (Nantahala Foundation/Jonathan Williams, 1966; Bamberger Books, 1991), illustrated by Davenport.
Upon completing his doctorate in 1961, Davenport accepted a job at Haverford College where he taught for two years. In 1963, he began teaching English at the University of Kentucky, where he would remain until he was granted a MacArthur Fellowship in 1990. All of Davenport’s books published during his lifetime were released while he was living in Lexington, except for his first, The Intelligence of Louis Agassiz (Beacon Press, 1963). He primarily wrote short stories, collected into volumes by his primary publishers, North Point Press and New Directions. Additionally, he was a translator of ancient Greek.
Davenport continued to write and paint after his retirement. He died from lung cancer on January 4, 2005, in Lexington.