# Saskia Hamilton

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This article is about the poet. For the song by Ben Folds and Nick Hornby, see [*Lonely Avenue* (Ben Folds and Nick Hornby album)](/source/Lonely_Avenue_(Ben_Folds_and_Nick_Hornby_album)).

**Maria Saskia Hamilton** (May 5, 1967 – June 7, 2023) was an American poet, editor, and professor and university administrator at [Barnard College](/source/Barnard_College). She published five collections of poetry, the final of which, *All Souls*, was posthumously published in September 2023. Her academic focus was largely on the American poet [Robert Lowell](/source/Robert_Lowell); she edited several collections of the writings and personal correspondence of Lowell, [Elizabeth Hardwick](/source/Elizabeth_Hardwick_(writer)), and [Elizabeth Bishop](/source/Elizabeth_Bishop). Additionally, she served as the director of literary programs at the [Lannan Foundation](/source/Lannan_Foundation), as the Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Curriculum at Barnard College, and as an editor at *[The Paris Review](/source/The_Paris_Review)* and *[Literary Imagination](/source/Literary_Imagination)*.

Her work was recognized with awards such as the Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism and the [Morton N. Cohen Award](/source/Morton_N._Cohen_Award). She held fellowships from the [Poetry Foundation](/source/Poetry_Foundation), the [Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study](/source/Radcliffe_Institute_for_Advanced_Study), the [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts), and a [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship).

## Early life

Maria Saskia Hamilton was born in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington,_D.C.), on May 5, 1967, to Elise Wiarda and John Andrew Hamilton Jr.[1][2][3][4][5] Wiarda is an artist and therapist. When Wiarda was ages two to seven, she lived under [Nazi occupation in Amsterdam](/source/Nazi_occupation_of_the_Netherlands). Elise Wiarda's grandparents were later honored as [Righteous Among the Nations](/source/Righteous_Among_the_Nations) by the [State of Israel](/source/State_of_Israel) for housing and hiding [Hugo Sinzheimer](/source/Hugo_Sinzheimer) and his wife.[6][7][2] Andrew Hamilton was a writer and editor, who, when Saskia Hamilton was young, was a principal analyst at the [Congressional Budget Office](/source/Congressional_Budget_Office). He later became an editorial writer for *[The Post and Courier](/source/The_Post_and_Courier)* in Charleston, South Carolina.[2][1][8] When Saskia was 12, her father re-married to Eliza Euretta Rathbone, an assistant curator at the [National Gallery of Art](/source/National_Gallery_of_Art) at the time, later the chief curator of [The Phillips Collection](/source/The_Phillips_Collection), and the daughter of [Perry T. Rathbone](/source/Perry_T._Rathbone).[9] Hamilton stated that she grew up listening to poetry read by her father and grandmother, and started writing poetry seriously when she was about 18.[10] She had four siblings.[2] Saskia attended [Georgetown Day School](/source/Georgetown_Day_School) in D.C.[11]

## Education and career

Hamilton graduated from [Kenyon College](/source/Kenyon_College) with a B.A. in 1989. Soon after graduating, her work closed out the collection *The Kenyon Poets: Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of The Kenyon Review*, a compilation of poetry in honor of *[The Kenyon Review](/source/The_Kenyon_Review)*.[12] That year, Hamilton was the winner of a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the [Poetry Foundation](/source/Poetry_Foundation). Sponsored by [Ruth Lilly](/source/Ruth_Lilly), the fellowship included a US$15,000 prize.[13][14][10] She used the fellowship to attend [New York University](/source/New_York_University), where she earned her M.A. in English and creative writing, graduating in 1991.[15][16]

From there, Hamilton worked at the [Folger Shakespeare Library](/source/Folger_Shakespeare_Library) in Washington, D.C., from 1992 to 1997.[15] She then lived in [Santa Fe, New Mexico](/source/Santa_Fe,_New_Mexico) where she was the associate director, later director, of literary programs at the [Lannan Foundation](/source/Lannan_Foundation),[15][17] before moving to [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge,_Massachusetts) in 1999. She spent a year teaching at Kenyon College from 2000 to 2001.[15] Her first poetry collection *As for Dream* was published by [Graywolf Press](/source/Graywolf_Press) during that time.[18] She stated that the collection was "partially about watching people deal with illness and death in families, and dealing with the moment of death."[18] She then taught for a year at Stonehill College from 2001 to 2002.[15] She moved to [Barnard College](/source/Barnard_College) in New York City in 2002, where she continued to work until her death.[5][15] She also received her Ph.D. from the [Editorial Institute](/source/Editorial_Institute) at [Boston University](/source/Boston_University).[4]

In 2005, Hamilton published *The Letters of Robert Lowell*, a compilation of poet [Robert Lowell](/source/Robert_Lowell)'s correspondence.[19][20][21] The book was well received. [Andrew Motion](/source/Andrew_Motion) writing for *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)* said, "Her selection, as far as one can judge, is excellent: it certainly gives a rounded picture of a marvellously jagged mind. [...] Best of all, her approach throughout is enthusiastic, as well as scholarly, and lets us see that even if Lowell wrote his letters in a way that's almost opposite to the way he wrote his poems (freely, and with hardly any revision), they nevertheless meet in a single concentration." That year, she also published two collections of her poetry: *Divide These* and *Canal: New & Selected Poems*, the latter of which featured some poems from her previous two collections and some new works.[22] In 2008, Hamilton collaborated with Thomas Travisano in editing *Words in Air*, a collection of the correspondence between poets [Elizabeth Bishop](/source/Elizabeth_Bishop) and Lowell from 1947 to Lowell's death in 1977.[23]

Hamilton was a judge for the 2009 [Griffin Poetry Prize](/source/Griffin_Poetry_Prize).[24] In 2012, she became co-editor for the journal *[Literary Imagination](/source/Literary_Imagination)*.[25][4]

In 2014, Hamilton published her fourth collection of poetry, *Corridor*. [David Orr](/source/David_Orr_(journalist)) writing for *[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)* and [Dan Chiasson](/source/Dan_Chiasson) writing for *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)* both listed the book as one their top poetry books of the year.[26]

Hamilton became Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Curriculum at Barnard College in July 2018.[5] The next month, she joined The *[Paris Review](/source/Paris_Review)* as an advisory editor.[27][28] In 2019, Hamilton published what would become her most discussed work: *The Dolphin Letters, 1970–1979: Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell, and Their Circle* and *[The Dolphin](/source/The_Dolphin_(book)), Two Versions: 1972, 1973*.[2][29] The books jointly earned her the 2020 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism from the Poetry Foundation[5][30] and *The Dolphin Letters* received the 2021 [Morton N. Cohen Award](/source/Morton_N._Cohen_Award) from The [Modern Language Association](/source/Modern_Language_Association)[5][31]

Her final poetry collection, titled *All Souls*, was posthumously released in September 2023.[32][33][34]

## Personal life and death

Hamilton's name is the title of the tenth track of the 2010 [Ben Folds](/source/Ben_Folds) and [Nick Hornby](/source/Nick_Hornby) collaborative album *[Lonely Avenue](/source/Lonely_Avenue_(Ben_Folds_and_Nick_Hornby_album))*; the song's lyrics are the thoughts of a character who has become obsessed with her based only on the sound of her name.[35] She first met Folds and Hornby after the album's release, when she attended a performance at [Housing Works Bookstore Cafe](/source/Housing_Works_Bookstore_Cafe) in [Lower Manhattan](/source/Lower_Manhattan) in October 2010.[35] Hamilton later hosted a conversation with Hornby at the Heyman Center at [Columbia University](/source/Columbia_University) in March 2013 as part of their Writing Lives Series.[36]

Hamilton died in [Manhattan](/source/Manhattan) on June 7, 2023, at age 56, from cancer.[2][28][5] She had a son.[5]

## Works

### Poetry collections

- *As for Dream: Poems* (2001), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-316-2[37]
- *Divide These: Poems* (2005), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-422-0[20]
- *Canal: New & Selected Poems 1993-2005* (2005), Arc Publications, ISBN 978-1-904614-15-9[22]
- *Corridor: Poems* (2014), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-55597-675-0[38]
- *All Souls: Poems* (2023), Graywolf Press, ISBN 978-1-64445-263-9[39]

### As editor

- *The Letters of Robert Lowell* (2005), Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 978-0-374-53034-1[40]
- *Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence Between Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell* (2008), Ed. by Thomas Travisano and Saskia Hamilton, Published by Macmillan, ISBN 9780374531898[41]
- *Poems / Prose* (2011), By Elizabeth Bishop, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 0374125589[42]
- *The Dolphin Letters, 1970–1979: Elizabeth Hardwick, Robert Lowell, and Their Circle* (2019), By Elizabeth Hardwick and Robert Lowell, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 9780374141264[43]
- *[The Dolphin](/source/The_Dolphin_(book)), Two Versions: 1972, 1973* (2019), By Robert Lowell, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, ISBN 978-0374538279[44]
- *Memories of Our Childhood in Wartime Amsterdam 1940-1945* (2022), By Claar Hugenholtz-Wiarda, Louise van Wassenaer-Wiarda, and Elise Wiarda, Ed. by Saskia Hamilton, [Self-published](/source/Self-published), ISBN 9798210608192

### As contributor

- *The Kenyon Poets: Celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Founding of The Kenyon Review* (1989), Ed. by Galbraith M. Crump, ISBN 978-0962325007[12]
- *Joining Music with Reason: 34 Poets, British and American* (2010), Ed. by Christopher Ricks, ISBN 978-1-904130-40-6[45]

## Awards

- 1989 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation[13]
- Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship[46]
- [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts) Fellowship[46]
- 2009 [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship)[47]
- 2020 Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism from the Poetry Foundation[5][30]
- 2021 [Arts and Letters Awards in Literature](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Letters#Awards) from The [American Academy of Arts and Letters](/source/American_Academy_of_Arts_and_Letters)[48]
- 2021 [Morton N. Cohen Award](/source/Morton_N._Cohen_Award) from The [Modern Language Association](/source/Modern_Language_Association)[5][31]

## References

1. ["John Hamilton Obituary (1935–2022) – Charleston, NC – Charleston Post & Courier"](https://obits.postandcourier.com/us/obituaries/charleston/name/john-hamilton-obituary?id=36630232). *The Post and Courier*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Genzlinger, Neil (2023-06-18). ["Saskia Hamilton, Poet Who Edited Another Poet's Letters, Dies at 56"](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/books/saskia-hamilton-poet-who-edited-another-poets-letters-dies-at-56.html). *The New York Times*. [ISSN 0362-4331](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331). Retrieved 2023-06-19.

1. ["The Beinecke Scholarship"](https://beineckescholarship.org/scholarships/). Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. ["Saskia Hamilton"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/saskia-hamilton). *Poetry Foundation*. June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. Bell, Linda. ["Saskia Hamilton (1967–2023)"](https://barnard.edu/news/saskia-hamilton-1967-2023). *Barnard College*. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. ["J.A. Hamilton Jr. Becomes Fiance OfEliseWiarda; Graduate of Harvard to Wed Daughter of High Judge in Netherlands"](https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1960/01/24/119093308.html?pageNumber=86). *The New York Times*. January 24, 1960. Retrieved 20 June 2023.

1. Hugenholtz-Wiarda, Claar; van Wassenaer-Wiarda, Louise; Wiarda, Elise (Aug 26, 2022). [*Memories of Our Childhood in Wartime Amsterdam 1940-1945*](https://www.blurb.com/books/11256817-memories-of-our-childhood). Gail Prensky. ISBN 9798210608192. Retrieved 20 June 2023.

1. ["Weddings/Celebrations; Claudia Hamilton, Jon Hlafter"](https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/fashion/weddings/24hamilton.html). *The New York Times*. June 24, 2007. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. ["Eliza E. Rathbone, Curator, Is Married"](https://www.nytimes.com/1979/09/09/archives/eliza-e-rathbone-curator-is-married.html). *The New York Times*. September 9, 1979. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Johnson, Dirk (May 7, 1989). ["For Young Poets, a Chance to Meet Kindred Souls"](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/07/us/for-young-poets-a-chance-to-meet-kindred-souls.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Moore, Judith (23 June 2005). ["The Letters of Robert Lowell | San Diego Reader"](https://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/2005/jun/23/letters-robert-lowell/). *Sandiegoreader.com*

1. Ware, Michele (November 12, 1989). ["Celebrating the poets at Kenyon"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-news-and-observer-celebrating-the-po/126277768/). *The News and Observer*. p. 78. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. ["Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowships"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/prizes-fellowship). *Poetry Foundation*. June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. ["Correction"](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/14/nyregion/c-correction-099689.html). *The New York Times*. May 14, 1989. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. ["Saskia Hamilton"](https://www.gf.org/fellows/saskia-hamilton/). *John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation...*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. ["Poetry contest winner considers year of travel to 'settle mind'"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/journal-and-courier-poetry-contest-winne/126277190/). *Journal and Courier*. Associated Press. September 22, 1990. p. 14. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. MacNeil, William (November 2, 1997). ["Foundation's Cash Gives Gift of Time to Writers"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/albuquerque-journal-foundations-cash-gi/126278128/). *Albuquerque Journal*. p. 164. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. Cline, Lynn (February 16, 2001). ["The Santa Fe New Mexican 16 Feb 2001, page 75"](https://www.newspapers.com/image/583466173/?terms=%22saskia%20hamilton%22&clipping_id=126276661). *The Santa Fe New Mexican*. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. Motion, Andrew (7 April 2006). ["The pain and the pleasure"](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/aug/13/biography.highereducation1). *the Guardian*. Retrieved 15 June 2023.

1. Hamilton, Saskia (May 2005). *Divide These*. Saint Paul, Minn: Graywolf Press. ISBN 1555974228.

1. Pritchard, William (June 19, 2005). ["Lowell, inside out"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-boston-globe-lowell-inside-out/126278462/). *The Boston Globe*. p. 70. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. Hamilton, Saskia (August 2005). *Canal*. Arc. ISBN 1904614159.

1. James, Jamie (November 7, 2008). ["Letter writing as an art between two postwar poets"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-letter-writing-as/126276932/). *The Los Angeles Times*. p. 71. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. ["You don't even have to be Canadian to help select our finest poets"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-you-dont-even-have-to-be/126278654/). *National Post*. National Post. September 23, 2008. p. 22. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. ["Editorial"](https://doi.org/10.1093/litimag/ims021). *Literary Imagination*. **14** (1): 1. March 1, 2012. [doi:10.1093/litimag/ims021](https://doi.org/10.1093/litimag/ims021). [ISSN 1523-9012](https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1523-9012). Retrieved June 14, 2023.

1. Orr, David (December 22, 2014). ["David Orr's 10 Favorite Poetry Books of 2014"](https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/22/books/review/david-orrs-10-favorite-poetry-books-of-2014.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

1. Nemens, Emily (August 30, 2018). ["Announcing Our New Editors"](https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/08/30/announcing-our-new-editors/). *The Paris Review*. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

1. Hamilton, Saskia (June 7, 2023). ["Faring"](https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2023/04/18/faring/). *The Paris Review*. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. LOZADA, LUCAS IBERICO (January 17, 2020). ["The Dolphin Letters Resurrects One of the 20th Century's Most Emotional Literary Scandals"](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/01/dolphin-letters-saskia-hamilton-interview). *Vanity Fair*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. ["Pegasus Award for Criticism"](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/foundation/criticism-award). *Poetry Foundation*. June 14, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

1. ["Professor Saskia Hamilton Wins the Modern Language Association's Morton N. Cohen Award"](https://barnard.edu/news/professor-saskia-hamilton-wins-modern-language-associations-morton-n-cohen-award). *Barnard College*. December 8, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

1. ["All Souls"](https://www.graywolfpress.org/books/all-souls). *www.graywolfpress.org*. Graywolf Press. Retrieved June 12, 2023.

1. Ciano, James (26 August 2023). ["Los Angeles Review of Books"](https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/what-practice-will-help-prepare-me-on-saskia-hamiltons-all-souls/). Retrieved 15 September 2023.

1. Popa, Maya (August 18, 2023). ["Immortal Truths: PW Talks with Saskia Hamilton"](https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/authors/interviews/article/93012-immortal-truths-pw-talks-with-saskia-hamilton.html). *PublishersWeekly.com*. Retrieved 15 September 2023.

1. Macdonald, John (October 13, 2010). ["Ben Folds, Nick Hornby Bring Collabo To Life In NYC"](https://www.spin.com/2010/10/ben-folds-nick-hornby-bring-collabo-life-nyc/). *Spin.com*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. ["An Evening with Nick Hornby—in conversation with Saskia Hamilton | Event"](https://sofheyman.org/events/an-evening-with-nick-hornby-in-conversation-with-saskia-hamilton). *SOF/Heyman*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Hamilton, Saskia (February 2001). *As for Dream: Poems*. Graywolf Press. ISBN 1555973167.

1. Hamilton, Saskia (April 2014). *Corridor*. Graywolf Press. ISBN 9781555976750.

1. Hamilton, Saskia (October 2023). *All Souls*. Graywolf Press. ISBN 9781644452646.

1. McGrath, Charles (June 15, 2005). ["The Letters of Robert Lowell"](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/arts/the-letters-of-robert-lowell.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Logan, William (October 31, 2008). ["'I Write Entirely for You'"](https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/books/review/Logan-t.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. ["Poems / Prose \[Boxed Set\]"](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374125585/poemsproseboxedset). MacMillan Publishers. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Sehgal, Parul (December 3, 2019). ["'The Dolphin Letters' Shine Light on a Famous Marital and Literary Scandal"](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/03/books/review-dolphin-letters-elizabeth-hardwick-robert-lowell.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Logan, William (February 2020). ["Lowell's Dolphin"](https://newcriterion.com/issues/2020/2/lowells-dolphin). *The New Criterion*. Retrieved June 13, 2023.

1. Ricks, Christopher (2010). *Joining Music with Reason: 34 Poets, British and American, Oxford 2004–2009*. Waywiser. ISBN 978-1-904130-40-6.

1. ["John Simon Guggenheim Foundation | Saskia Hamilton"](http://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/saskia-hamilton/). *www.gf.org*. Retrieved November 7, 2015.

1. [Guggenheim profile](http://www.gf.org/fellows/16463-saskia-hamilton) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090611090151/http://www.gf.org/fellows/16463-saskia-hamilton) June 11, 2009 at the Wayback Machine

1. ["2021 Literature Award Winners – American Academy of Arts and Letters"](https://artsandletters.org/pressrelease/2021-literature-award-winners/). *artsandletters.org*. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Saskia Hamilton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskia_Hamilton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saskia_Hamilton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.