William Carlos Williams was born in 1883 in Rutherford, New Jersey. His father was born British but raised in the Domincan Republic, while his mother grew up in Puerto Rico, so Spanish was the primary language in his household growing up. He attended medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1906. He completed internships at two New York City hospitals before traveling abroad to further his pediatric study in Leipzig, Germany. Upon returning to the United States, he married Florence Herman in 1912 and returned to his hometown of Rutherford, where he would spend the rest of his life practicing medicine by day and writing by night.
Williams’ poetry drew from the varied cultural influences in which he was raised, while employing a colloquial style that drew influence from—and occasionally found critique from within—the Imagist and modernist movements. His work injected a sense of wonder into the observation of everyday objects and events that might otherwise pass unremarked, phrased in his epic poem Paterson as “no ideas but in things.” This quality is typified by his most well-known poems, “The Red Wheelbarrow” and “This Is Just To Say.” Williams published consistently up to his death in 1963, as well as mentoring younger poets and influencing developing literary movements such as Beat poetry, the New York School, and the Black Mountain school.
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Photo by Man Ray.