Daniel Haberman

Daniel Haberman (1933–1991) was an American poet, translator and graphic designer. Haberman was instrumental in founding the American Poets' Corner at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City and was the Cathedral's first Poet-in-Residence, from 1983 to 1986.[1] In 1988 he and his wife, pianist Barbara Nissman, moved from New York to a farm in the Allegheny Mountains of West Virginia, where he lived until his death.[2]

Early life and education

Haberman was born in New York City in 1933, the son of Benjamin Haberman, a typesetter, and his wife Sadie (Daisee) Ballin. He attended the Walden School, Carnegie Mellon University, and the graduate school of New York University. He was educated in the second-hand bookshops of Manhattan and by two years of study with Edward Dahlberg.[3]

Poet

Haberman published two volumes of poetry in his lifetime, Poems (Art Direction Book, 1977; 2nd edition, 1982) and The Furtive Wall (Art Direction Book, 1982), the latter with etchings by Jan Stussy. A collection of his verse, The Lug of Days to Come (John Daniel and Company, 1996),[4] with a foreword by Guy Davenport, was released posthumously.

Three of Haberman's poems ("Morning on the Orient Express," "The Sky in an Auburn Haze," and an untitled poem) appeared in the Spring 1984 issue of Southern Review.[5]

Composer Irina Dubkova wrote a song-cycle titled The Lug of Days to Come, setting to music six of Haberman's poems.[6]

Translator

Haberman's translations of Archilochus, Erinna, Praxilla, Antipater of Sidon, Zenobius, and Gaetulicus were done in collaboration with Marylin B. Arthur. Their translation of "Erinna's Lament to Baucis" was published in 1993 in The Norton Book of Classical Literature, edited by Bernard Knox,[7] and in The Greek Poets: Homer to the Present, published in 2009 by Norton and edited by Peter Constantine, Rachel Hadas, Edmund Keeley & Karen Van Dyck.[8]

Graphic designer

Haberman designed 16 editions of Shakespeare; his edition of The Tempest (Composing Room & Graphic Arts Typographers, New York, 1971) was named by the American Institute of Graphic Arts as one of the fifty best books of 1972.[9][10]

American Poets' Corner

In 1983 Haberman was asked to create an American Poets' Corner at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York,[11] and was the Cathedral's first Poet-in-Residence.[12] He personally raised $20,000 for the engraving of the wall and monuments to the first writers elected for induction (Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, and Washington Irving).[13]

The "Service of Dedication" of the American Poets' Corner took place on May 7, 1984, and featured such diverse talents as Edgar Bowers, Walter Cronkite, Zubin Mehta, Barbara Nissman, Gregory Peck, Michael Tree, Rosalyn Tureck, Robert Penn Warren, and Paul Winter.[14]

While serving as Poet-in Residence, Haberman drew up the original set of 13 Electors to the Poets' Corner, inviting the poets Daniel Aaron, Edgar Bowers, Joseph Brodsky, J.V. Cunningham, Guy Davenport, Anthony Hecht, John Hollander, Josephine Miles, Ann Stanford, Robert Penn Warren, Eudora Welty, and Richard Wilbur to be part of the voting to select two American poets to be honored every year. Marie (Mrs. Hugh) Bullock, founder/president of the Academy of American Poets, accepted the position of honorary chairman; Lyn (Mrs. Edward T.) Chase, a vice president of the academy and a trustee of the cathedral, became an elector ex officio.[15]

Haberman was succeeded as Poet-in-Residence in May 1986 by William Jay Smith,[16] and continued to serve as an Elector of the American Poets' Corner until his death in 1991.[17]

References
  1. "Poets-in-Residence" webpage (Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine website)
  2. "Daniel Haberman, Poet, 58". The New York Times. 1991-08-16. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 2014-10-08. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
  3. Contemporary Authors, Vol. 110, 1984, pg. 225
  4. Publisher's webpage for The Lug of Days to Come (John Daniel & Company website)
  5. Southern Review Spring 1984 issue webpage (Southern Review website)
  6. Irina Dubkova's song-cycle The Lug of Days to Come (setting of six Haberman poems) on YouTube
  7. The Norton Book of Classical Literature, ed. B. Knox, 1993 (W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. website)
  8. The Greek Poets: Homer to the Present, ed. P. Constantine et al., 2009 (W.W. Norton & Co., Inc. website)
  9. Contemporary Authors, Vol. 110, 1984, pg. 225
  10. Daniel Haberman webpage (AIGA Design Archives website)
  11. "The American Poets’ Corner at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine" webpage (Poets.org website)
  12. "Poets-in-Residence" webpage (Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine website)
  13. Linda Blandford, "American Diary," The Guardian, May 30, 1984
  14. American Poets' Corner Service of Dedication (May 7, 1984)
  15. Daniel Haberman, "The American Poets' Corner: The First Three Years (1983–1986)", Dictionary of Literary Biography (ed. J.M. Brook), pg. 145
  16. "Poets-in-Residence" webpage (Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine website)
  17. "Poets Corner Electors" webpage (Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine website)
  18. GUIDE TO THE POETRY AT THE HONORS COLLEGE AND CONNECTICUT POETRY CIRCUIT RECORDS, 1966 - 1990 (Special Collections & Archives webpage, Wesleyan University website)
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