31 Facts About Denise Levertov

Priscilla Denise Levertov was a British-born naturalised American poet.

Denise Levertov was a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry.

Denise Levertov emigrated to the UK and became an Anglican priest after converting to Christianity.

Denise Levertov wrote about the strangeness she felt growing up part Jewish, German, Welsh and English, but not fully belonging to any of these identities.

When Denise Levertov was five years old she declared she would be a writer.

In 1940, when she was 17, Denise Levertov published her first poem.

Also in response to the Vietnam War, Denise Levertov joined the War Resisters League, and in 1968 signed the "Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the war.

Denise Levertov was a founding member of the anti-war collective RESIST along with Noam Chomsky, Mitchell Goodman, William Sloane Coffin, and Dwight Macdonald.

Much of the latter part of Denise Levertov's life was spent in education.

Denise Levertov lived part-time in Palo Alto and taught at Stanford University, as professor of English.

In 1994 Denise Levertov was diagnosed with lymphoma, and suffered pneumonia and acute laryngitis.

In December 1997, Denise Levertov died at the age of 74 from complications due to lymphoma.

Denise Levertov was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Seattle, Washington.

Donna Krolik Hollenberg's more substantial biography, A Poet's Revolution: The Life of Denise Levertov, was published by the University of California Press in April 2013.

Denise Levertov was published in the Black Mountain Review during the 1950s, but denied any formal relations with the group.

Denise Levertov began to develop her own lyrical style of poetry through those influences.

Denise Levertov felt it was part of a poet's calling to point out the injustice of the Vietnam War, and she actively participated in rallies, reading poetry at some.

From a very young age Denise Levertov was influenced by her religion, and when she began writing it was a major theme in her poetry.

Denise Levertov always believed that her culture and her family roots had inherent value to herself and her writing.

When Denise Levertov moved to the United States, she fell under the influence of the Black Mountain Poets, especially the mysticism of Charles Olson.

Denise Levertov drew on the experimentation of Ezra Pound and the style of William Carlos Williams, but was exposed to the Transcendentalism of Thoreau and Emerson.

Denise Levertov wrote many poems with religious themes throughout her career.

Denise Levertov goes back and forth between the glory of God and nature, but doubt constantly plagues her.

Denise Levertov explores God as he relates to nothing and everything.

Denise Levertov explores the idea that there can be peace in death.

Denise Levertov begins to suggest that nothing is a part of God.

Denise Levertov writes about a mountain, which becomes a metaphor for life and God.

Denise Levertov's poems tend to shift away from constantly questioning religion to accepting it simply.

In "The Tide," the final section of Evening Train, Denise Levertov writes about accepting faith and realizing that not knowing answers is tolerable.

Denise Levertov wrote a great deal of metaphysical poetry to express her religious views, and began to use Christianity to link culture and community together.

Denise Levertov wrote and published 24 books of poetry, and criticism and translations.