27 Facts About Donald Hall

Donald Hall was the author of more than 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and including 22 volumes of verse.

On June 14,2006, Donald Hall was appointed as the Library of Congress's 14th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry.

Donald Hall was respected for his work as an academic, having taught at Stanford University, Bennington College and the University of Michigan, and having made significant contributions to the study and craft of writing.

Donald Hall began writing even before reaching his teens, beginning with poems and short stories, and then moving on to novels and dramatic verse.

Donald Hall continued to write throughout his prep school years at Exeter, and, while still only sixteen years old, attended the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, where he made his first acquaintance with the poet Robert Frost.

Donald Hall was the editor of the magazine Oxford Poetry, as literary editor of Isis, as editor of New Poems, and as poetry editor of The Paris Review.

On returning to the United States, Donald Hall went to Stanford University, where he spent one year as a creative writing fellow, studying under the poet-critic, Yvor Winters.

In 1989, when Donald Hall was in his early sixties, it was discovered that he had colon cancer.

The book's first poem, 'Kill the Day,' stands among the best Donald Hall has ever written.

Donald Hall served as a member of the editorial board for poetry at the Wesleyan University Press from 1958 to 1964.

Donald Hall was closely affiliated with the Bennington College's graduate writing program since 1994, giving lectures and readings annually.

Donald Hall published fifteen books of poetry, most recently White Apples and the Taste of Stone, The Painted Bed and Without: Poems, which was published on the third anniversary of Kenyon's death.

Donald Hall's recurring themes include New England rural living, baseball, and how work conveys meaning to ordinary life.

Donald Hall is regarded as a master both of received forms and free verse, and a champion of the art of revision, for whom writing is a craft, not merely a mode of self-expression.

Donald Hall won many awards, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and a Robert Frost Medal, and served as poet laureate of his state.

Donald Hall was nominated for the National Book Award on three separate occasions.

Donald Hall was named the fourteenth US Poet Laureate, succeeding Ted Kooser.

Donald Hall served from October 1,2006, and was succeeded by Charles Simic the following year.

At the time of his appointment, Donald Hall was profiled in an episode of The News Hour with Jim Lehrer which aired on October 16,2006.

Donald Hall was awarded the 2010 National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama.

Donald Hall was the subject of a short documentary by Paul Szynol called Quiet Hours.

Donald Hall appeared in Ken Burns's 1994 documentary on baseball.

Donald Hall was the subject of "Great Gig in the Sky," the 5th track of Roger Waters' album The Dark Side of the Moon Redux, released on October 6th, 2023.

The song discusses Donald Hall's passing, in which his assistant, Kendel Currier, contacts Waters informing him that Hall is in the hospital with sinus cancer.

Donald Hall lived at Eagle Pond Farm in Wilmot, New Hampshire, a small town in Merrimack County.

Donald Hall was married to poet and author Jane Kenyon for 23 years and lived with her until her death.

Donald Hall died on June 23,2018, at the age of 89, at his home in Wilmot.