# Rose Styron > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rose_Styron > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rose_Styron.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Styron > Source revision: 1328969269 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Rose Burgunder Styron** (born April 4, 1928) is an [American poet](/source/American_poet), journalist, and [human rights activist](/source/Human_rights_defender).[1] She is a founding member of [Amnesty International USA](/source/Amnesty_International_USA),[2][3] becoming a board member in 1970.[4] Styron is the subject of the documentary *In the Company of Rose*, directed by [James Lapine](/source/James_Lapine), which debuted in 2022.[5][6] Her most recent book is a memoir, *Beyond This Harbor*, published in 2023.[7] ## Early life and education Rose Burgunder Styron was born in [Baltimore](/source/Baltimore), Maryland, in 1928,[8] where she spent her childhood. The daughter of B. B. Burgunder (father) and Selma Kann, (mother),[9] her family's heritage was German Jewish,[10] though it was described as a secular, non-observant Jewish household.[8] She attended grade school at the [Quaker Friends School of Baltimore](/source/Friends_School_of_Baltimore).[4] Burgunder attended [Wellesley College](/source/Wellesley_College), where she graduated in 1950 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree.[11] She was Class Poet and won Wellesley's John Masefield Prize for "the best poem written by a member of the senior class." [4] Next, she earned her MFA at [Johns Hopkins University](/source/Johns_Hopkins_University), where she met her future husband, novelist [William Styron](/source/William_Styron), when she attended a reading he was giving. Burgunder said that, for her, this first meeting was not memorable.[4] During the spring semester of 2009, Styron served as a Fellow at the [Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics](/source/Harvard_Institute_of_Politics). ## Career as a human rights activist Rose Styron joined [Amnesty International USA](/source/Amnesty_International_USA) in 1970, after attending a writer's conference in [Moscow](/source/Moscow,_Russia) and [Tashkent](/source/Tashkent).[3] She has chaired [PEN](/source/PEN_America)’s Freedom-to-Write Committee and the [Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award](/source/Robert_F._Kennedy_Human_Rights_Award), and has served on the boards of the [Academy of American Poets](/source/Academy_of_American_Poets), the Association to Benefit Children, and the [Brain and Creativity Institute](/source/Brain_and_Creativity_Institute) at the [University of Southern California](/source/University_of_Southern_California).[3] Styron is a fellow at the [Kennedy Institute of Politics](/source/Harvard_Institute_of_Politics) and was on the [Council on Foreign Relations](/source/Council_on_Foreign_Relations).[4][2] Styron’s 2023 memoir *Beyond This Harbor* is partly about her work as an activist, which involved traveling around the world, working to free prisoners of conscience. Writing about Styron’s memoir, [Harvey Wasserman](/source/Harvey_Wasserman) describes it as being, in part, “a harrowing travelogue through eastern Europe and southeast Asia to the unspeakable travesties of our own horrific prisons and the infuriating hypocrisies of our worst politicians.”[12] ## Writing career Styron is the author of four volumes of poetry. She has known that poetry was her deepest calling since the age of 9.[4] Styron has worked as a translator on two books of Russian poetry, and has been a contributor to various other writing projects. These include interviews, book reviews, and essays for *[American Poetry Review](/source/American_Poetry_Review)*, *[The Paris Review](/source/The_Paris_Review)*, *[Ramparts](/source/Ramparts_(magazine))*, and *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)*.[3] As a journalist, Styron has published articles on human rights and foreign policy in many magazines, newspapers, and journals. Some of the publications include *[The New York Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Review_of_Books)*,[13] *[The Nation](/source/The_Nation)*, and *[The New Republic](/source/The_New_Republic)*.[3] As an "upholder of her husband's legacy," after William Styron’s death in 2006,[8] she edited *The Selected Letters of William Styron*, a project that was a two-year commitment. Rose Styron was finally able to assemble a new book of her own poems, *Fierce Day*, published in 2015. It was her first new volume of poems since *By Vineyard Light* appeared in 1995. She says: "I became obsessed with helping to change antihuman policies abroad. I stopped writing poetry. For twenty years."[8] ## Personal life In 1952, while doing a fellowship at the [American Academy in Rome](/source/American_Academy_in_Rome), Burgunder renewed a passing acquaintance with a young novelist, [William Styron](/source/William_Styron), who had just won the [Rome Prize](/source/Rome_Prize) for his novel *[Lie Down in Darkness](/source/Lie_Down_in_Darkness_(novel))*.[9] For their first date, they were chaperoned by [Truman Capote](/source/Truman_Capote). Before the date was over, Capote told Styron that he needed to marry this woman.[7] They were married in Rome in the spring of 1953. Together, they had four children: daughter [Susanna Styron](/source/Susanna_Styron) is a film director; daughter Paola is an internationally acclaimed modern dancer; daughter [Alexandra Styron](/source/Alexandra_Styron) is a writer, known for the 2001 novel *All The Finest Girls* and her memoir *Reading My Father* published in 2011; and son Thomas is a professor of [clinical psychology](/source/Clinical_psychology) at [Yale University](/source/Yale_University). Rose Styron raised her family in [Roxbury, Connecticut](/source/Roxbury,_Connecticut), but they often spent extended summers on [Martha’s Vineyard](/source/Martha%E2%80%99s_Vineyard)[13] where she now permanently resides. ## Selected bibliography **Poetry volumes** - *From Summer to Summer* ([Viking Press](/source/Viking_Press), 1965)[3] - *Thieves’ Afternoon* (Viking Press, 1972)[3] - *By Vineyard Light* (Rizzoli, 1995)[3] - *Fierce Day* (Friesen Press, 2015) **Memoir** - *Beyond This Harbor: Adventurous Tales of the Heart* ([Alfred A. Knopf](/source/Alfred_A._Knopf), 2023) **Translator** - *Modern Russian Poetry*. translated by Olga Andreyev Carlisle and Rose Styron[3] - *Poets on Street Corners – Portraits of Fifteen Russian Poets* (Random House, 1968)[3] **Editor** - *The Selected Letters of William Styron*. w/ R. Blakeslee Gilpin ([Random House](/source/Random_House), 2012) **Contributor** - *Report on Torture* ([Farrar, Straus and Giroux](/source/Farrar,_Straus_and_Giroux), 1975)[4] - *Letters to My Father* ([Louisiana State University Press](/source/Louisiana_State_University_Press), 2009) - *Unholy Ghost: Writers on Depression*, edited by Nell Casey, ([Harper Collins](/source/Harper_Collins), 2002)[3] - *Women Of Martha's Vineyard* (History Press Library Editions, 2013)[4] ## References 1. Poets, Academy of American. ["Rose Styron"](https://poets.org/poet/rose-styron-0). *Poets.org* 1. ["Rose Styron"](https://as.nyu.edu/about/arts-and-science-board/rose-styron.html). *as.nyu.edu* 1. ["Rose Styron | The Institute of Politics at Harvard University"](https://iop.harvard.edu/fellows/rose-styron). *iop.harvard.edu* 1. ["Weaving a Literary Life"](https://mvmagazine.com/news/2013/08/01/weaving-literary-life). *Martha's Vineyard Magazine*. August 1, 2013. 1. ["IN THE COMPANY OF ROSE"](https://www.docnyc.net/film/in-the-company-of-rose/). *DOC NYC* 1. Kenny, Glenn (June 29, 2023). ["Review: 'In the Company of Rose' Is a Pleasant Portrait"](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/movies/in-the-company-of-rose-review.html). *The New York Times*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20230629110837/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/29/movies/in-the-company-of-rose-review.html) 2023-06-29 at the Wayback Machine. 1. Rocca, Mo (July 9, 2023). ["The adventures of Rose Styron – CBS News"](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/rose-styron-beyond-this-harbor-adventurous-tales-of-the-heart/). *www.cbsnews.com* 1. ["Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, June 16, 2023"](https://www.shelf-awareness.com/sar-issue.html?issue=1178#m21795). *www.shelf-awareness.com* 1. ["Timeline │ The Official Webpage about American Author William Styron."](https://william-styron.com/about/timeline/). *William-Styron.com*. August 25, 2018. 1. ["Beyond This Harbor by Rose Styron: 9780525659020 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books"](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634300/beyond-this-harbor-by-rose-styron/). *PenguinRandomhouse.com* 1. ["What a Life! | Wellesley Magazine"](https://magazine.wellesley.edu/fall-2023/what-life). *magazine.wellesley.edu*. 10 November 2023. 1. Wasserman, Harvey (July 7, 2023). ["Rose Styron's Gentle, Riveting 'Beyond this Harbor'"](https://progressive.org/latest/rose-styron%E2%80%99s-beyond-this-harbor-wasserman-230707/). *Progressive.org* 1. ["Rose Styron: Contributor's page"](https://www.nybooks.com/contributors/rose-styron/). *New York Review of Books* ## External links - [Interview with Rose Styron about editing *The Selected Letters of William Styron*](https://s370.podbean.com/pb/324eb21a4091a8c4e4f7d686ec8aceb5/66bbd73c/data1/fs110/133042/uploads/rosestyron.mp3) - [Publisher’s page for *Beyond This Harbor*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/634300/beyond-this-harbor-by-rose-styron/) - [Papers of Rose B. Styron, 1927-2024.](https://id.lib.harvard.edu/ead/sch02335/catalog) [Schlesinger Library](http://radcliffe.harvard.edu/schlesinger-library), Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rose Styron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Styron) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Styron?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.