Join the Circle for a discussion of works by Philip Levine. Click here to view online – PHILIP LEVINE; printed copies available at the Help Desk.
Philip Levine (1928–2015) was an acclaimed American poet born in Detroit, where he worked in factories while writing poetry in his spare time. He earned an MFA from the University of Iowa, studying with poets Robert Lowell and John Berryman, and went on to publish numerous collections exploring working-class life, labor, family, and the human experience.
Levine received many prestigious honors, including two National Book Awards, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for The Simple Truth. In 2011, he was named the eighteenth U.S. Poet Laureate. He taught for many years at California State University, Fresno, and later served as Distinguished Poet in Residence at New York University. Known for his direct, unpretentious style and powerful portrayals of working-class America, Levine left a lasting mark on contemporary poetry.