Fanny Howe

About

Experimental poet and author known for On the Ground, The Lives of a Spirit, and other works. She was the 2005 recipient of the Griffin Poetry Prize and the 2009 recipient of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

Before Fame

She was born in Buffalo, New York to an attorney father and an Irish stage actress mother. She published her debut work, Eggs: poems, in 1970.

Trivia

She taught at several universities, including Yale and Columbia.

Family Life

She was briefly married to Frederick Delafield. She later wed Civil Rights activist Carl Senna, with whom she had three children. Her daughter, Danzy Senna, became a novelist.

Associated With

She was inspired by the poetry of T.S. Eliot.