{{short description|American poet (1949–2007)}}

{{Infobox writer | embed = | name = Liam Rector | birth_name = Ronald Edward Rector | birth_date = {{Birth date|1949|11|21}} | birth_place = Washington, D.C., U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2007|08|15|1949|11|21}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | occupation = {{Hlist|Poet|educator}} | alma_mater = Johns Hopkins University (MA)<br>Harvard Kennedy School of Government (MPA)<ref name="auto"/> | spouses = Tree Swenson | partner = <!-- or: | partners = --> | children = 1 | awards =Guggenheim Fellow (1985)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/liam-rector/|title=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation &#124; Liam Rector}}</ref> | website = <!-- {{URL|example.org}} --> | portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc.; or omit --> }} '''Liam Rector''' (born '''Ronald Edward Rector'''; November 21, 1949 – August 15, 2007) was an American poet, essayist and educator. He had administered literary programs at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), the National Endowment for the Arts, the Academy of American Poets, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. He was also the founder of the graduate Writing Seminars program at Bennington College.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/17/arts/17rector.html|title=Liam Rector, 57, a Poet and Educator, Dies|first=Margalit|last=Fox|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 17, 2007}}</ref>

==Life and work== {|class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 2em; margin-right: 1em; font-size: 90%; background:#CC9966; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5" |style="text-align: left;" | Liam's class was one of my favorite experiences at the New School, as I'm sure it was for many others. He was a wonderful man and a terrific poet and teacher. I remember hearing him read at a PSA reading. He read last, I was bored and tired, and he blew the doors off the place. He just exuded a poetic gravitas, and I know few poets who read with such grace and class. I'll miss him. |- |style="text-align: right;" |Steve Roberts <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20091008231559/http://ronsilliman.blogspot.com/2007/08/liam-rector-1949-2007.html Liam Rector: 1949 — 2007] A "cyber-tombeau" at ''Silliman's Blog'' by poet Ron Silliman includes comments, tributes, and links</ref> |} Ronald Edward Rector was born in Washington, D.C.; he adopted the name Liam in adulthood.<ref name = auto/> He was educated at various undergraduate programs but did not receive a bachelor's degree; he did, however, receive master's degrees in writing from Johns Hopkins University and in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.<ref name = auto/> He was the author of volumes of poetry including ''The Executive Director of the Fallen World'' (University of Chicago, 2006), ''American Prodigal'' (Story Line, 1994), and ''The Sorrow of Architecture'' (Dragon Gate, 1984).

Rector was married three times, with the first two marriages ending in divorce; he had a daughter from his second marriage.<ref name="auto"/> With his third wife, Tree Swenson,<ref name="auto"/> he edited ''On the Poetry of Frank Bidart: Fastening the Voice to the Page'' (University of Michigan, 2007), and edited ''The Day I Was Older: On the Poetry of Donald Hall'' (Story Line, 1989).

Rector co-created (with poet Robert McDowell) a model for a low-residency MFA Program, and later founded and directed the graduate writing seminars at Bennington College in Vermont. He taught at Columbia University, The New School, and Emerson College.<ref name="auto"/>

Rector committed suicide by gunshot in his Greenwich Village apartment on August 15, 2007, at the age of 57. He had incurred a series of health problems in his last years, including heart disease and cancer, and mentioned this in his suicide note.<ref name="auto"/>

==Legacy== The Liam Rector First Book Prize for Poetry is awarded annually by Briery Creek Press to honor the best emerging poets with their first full-length poetry publication.

==Bibliography== ===Poetry===

* ''The Sorrow of Architecture: Poems.'' Port Townsend, WA: Dragon Gate, 1984. * '' American Prodigal: Poems.'' Brownsville, OR: Story Line Press, 1994. * '' The Executive Director of the Fallen World.'' Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006.

===Editor===

* ''The Day I Was Older: On the poetry of Donald Hall.'' Santa Cruz, CA: Story Line Press, 1989. * '' On Frank Bidart: Fastening the voice to the page'' (edited with Tree Swenson). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2007.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://www.thefreelibrary.com/An+interview+by+Sarah+Kanning.-a0136343159 "An interview by Sarah Kanning.." The Free Library. 2005 World Poetry, Inc.] - this interview was first published in “The American Poetry Review” (Vol. 34, No. 5 (SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005), pp.&nbsp;37–41 as a Special APR Supplement: Liam Rector *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929160817/http://www.aprweb.org/issues/sept05/rector.html except from ''An interview by Sarah Kanning''] this link includes Rector poems "About the Money" and "In My Memory Eddie" published in the ''American Poetry Review'' (Sept/Oct 2005) *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070828115455/http://www.aprweb.org/issues/jan02/rector.html excerpt from ''The Culture Wars in a Time of War''] published in the ''American Poetry Review'' (Jan/Feb 2000) *[https://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/379 Exhibit at The Academy of American Poets] includes links to on-line poems and audio readings *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070821012959/http://www.nypost.com/seven/08162007/news/regionalnews/top_n_y__poet_kills_self_regionalnews_peter_cox_____and_andy_geller.htm Top N.Y. Poet Kills Self] obituary from NY Post on-line *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927231246/http://poetrynet.org/month/archive/rector/intro.html "autobiographical note"] A piece Rector wrote for the Web site PoetryNet when he was their Poet of the Month for September 2004; including [https://web.archive.org/web/20050627081101/http://members.aol.com/poetrynet/month/archive/rector/parents.html "When the Parents Went"], one of several Rector poems published at PoetryNet when Rector was Poet of the Month during September 2004 *[https://brierycreekpress.wordpress.com/liam-rector-first-book-prize-for-poetry/ Liam Rector First Book Prize for Poetry] Poetry Prize named after Liam Rector. *[https://rose.library.emory.edu/ Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library], Emory University: [http://pid.emory.edu/ark:/25593/c4k3t Liam Rector papers] *[https://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/author.php%3Fauth_id=2415.html Poems by: Liam Rector] - links to four poems at the Writer’s Almanac site popularized by Garrison Keillor: “First Marriage”, “The Old Man and the Motorcycle”, “Off to the Country of Cancer”, and ”Twenty-three”

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rector, Liam}} Category:1949 births Category:2007 deaths Category:2007 suicides Category:20th-century American educators Category:20th-century American poets Category:21st-century American educators Category:21st-century American poets Category:American male poets Category:Bennington College faculty Category:Columbia University faculty Category:Emerson College faculty Category:Folger Shakespeare Library Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni Category:Johns Hopkins University alumni Category:People from Greenwich Village Category:Writers from Manhattan Category:Poets from Washington, D.C. Category:Suicides by firearm in New York City