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May Sarton

January 07, 2023

May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton[1] (May 3, 1912 – July 16, 1995), a Belgian-American poet, novelist and memoirist. Although her best work is strongly personalised with erotic female imagery, she resisted the label of ‘lesbian writer’, preferring to convey the universality of human love.

May Sarton
BornEleanore Marie Sarton
(1912-05-03)May 3, 1912
Wondelgem, Belgium
DiedJuly 16, 1995(1995-07-16) (aged 83)
York, Maine
Resting placeNelson, New Hampshire
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • poet
  • memoirist
NationalityBelgian, American
GenreFiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's literature
Notable awardsSarton Memoir Award
PartnerJudith "Judy" Matlack

Biography

Sarton was born in Wondelgem, Belgium (today a part of the city of Ghent),[1] the only child of historian of science George Sarton and his wife, English artist Mabel Eleanor Elwes. When German troops invaded Belgium after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914, her family fled to Ipswich, England, where Sarton's maternal grandmother lived.[citation needed]

One year later, they moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where her father started working at Harvard University. Sarton started theatre lessons in her late teens but continued writing poetry throughout her adolescence. She went to school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, graduating from Cambridge High and Latin School in 1929.[citation needed]

Sarton won a scholarship to Vassar but felt drawn to the theater after seeing Eva Le Gallienne perform in The Cradle Song. She joined Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre in New York and spent a year working as an apprentice. However, Sarton continued to write poetry. When she was seventeen, she published a series of sonnets in December 1930, some of which were featured in her first published volume, Encounter in April (1937).[2][3]

When she was nineteen, Sarton traveled to Europe, living in Paris for a year. In this time, she met such literary and cultural figures as Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Bowen, Julian Huxley and Juliette Huxley, Lugné-Pöe, Basil de Sélincourt, and S. S. Koteliansky. Sarton had affairs with both of the Huxleys.[4] It was within this environment and community that she published her first novel, The Single Hound (1938).[3]

In 1945 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, she met Judith "Judy" Matlack[5] (September 9, 1898 – December 22, 1982), who became her partner for the next thirteen years. They separated in 1956, when Sarton's father died and Sarton moved to Nelson, New Hampshire. Honey in the Hive (1988) is about their relationship.[6] In her memoir At Seventy, Sarton reflected on Judy's importance in her life and her (Sarton's) Unitarian Universalist upbringing.[7] She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958.[8]

Sarton later moved to York, Maine. In 1990, she was temporarily debilitated by a stroke. Since writing was difficult, she used a tape recorder to record and transcribe her journal Endgame: A Journal of the Seventy-Ninth Year (1992). Despite her physical difficulties, she maintained her sense of independence. Endgame was followed by the journal Encore: A Journal of the Eightieth Year (1993), a celebration of Sarton's life. She won the Levinson Prize for Poetry in 1993. Her final book, Coming Into Eighty (1995), published after her death, covers the year from July 1993 to August 1994, describing her attitude of gratitude for life as she wrestled with the experience of aging.[9]

She died of breast cancer on July 16, 1995, and is buried in Nelson Cemetery, Nelson, New Hampshire.[10]

Works and themes

May Sarton wrote 53 books, including 19 novels, 17 books of poetry, 15 nonfiction works, 2 children's books, a play, and additional screenplays.[11][12] According to The Poetry Foundation, Sarton's style as defined by critics is "calm, cultured, and urbane."[11] In much of her writing, Sarton maintains a politically conscious lens, but what is considered May Sarton's best and most enduring work lies in her journals and memoirs, particularly Plant Dreaming Deep (about her early years at Nelson, ca. 1958–68), Journal of a Solitude (1972-1973, often considered her best), The House by the Sea (1974-1976), Recovering (1978-1979) and At Seventy (1982-1983). In these fragile, rambling and honest accounts of her solitary life, she deals with such issues as aging, isolation, solitude, friendship, love and relationships, lesbianism, self-doubt, success and failure, envy, gratitude for life's simple pleasures, love of nature (particularly of flowers), the changing seasons, spirituality and, importantly, the constant struggles of a creative life. Sarton's later journals are not of the same quality, as she endeavored to keep writing through ill health and by dictation.

Although many of her earlier works, such as Encounter in April, contain vivid erotic female imagery, May Sarton often emphasized in her journals that she didn't see herself as a "lesbian" writer: "The vision of life in my work is not limited to one segment of humanity...and has little to do with sexual proclivity".[13] Rather she wanted to touch on what is universally human about love in all its manifestations. When publishing her novel Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing in 1965, she feared that writing openly about lesbianism would lead to a diminution of the previously established value of her work. "The fear of homosexuality is so great that it took courage to write Mrs. Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing," she wrote in Journal of a Solitude, "to write a novel about a woman homosexual who is not a sex maniac, a drunkard, a drug-taker, or in any way repulsive, to portray a homosexual who is neither pitiable nor disgusting, without sentimentality ..."[14] After the book's release, many of Sarton's works began to be studied in university level women's studies classes, being embraced by feminists and lesbians alike.[2]

Margot Peters' controversial authorized biography (1998) revealed May Sarton as a complex individual who often struggled in her relationships.[15] Peters' book was often scathing ("People who had the misfortune to become her intimates almost universally came to regret it. On the slightest of pretexts, Ms. Peters has it, Sarton subjected them to 'terrible scenes, nights of weeping, rages, blowups.' She was expert at emotional blackmail, and behaved badly in restaurants. Self-absorbed and insensitive, May Sarton wooed others with extravagant attentions, only to betray and humiliate them later -- 'with scant regard,' Ms. Peters observes, 'for the chaos left in her wake.'"[16]), but the biography was considered "thoughtful, even-handed, [and] well-written."[17] A selected edition of Sarton's letters was edited by Susan Sherman in 1997[4] and many of Sarton's papers are held in the New York Public Library.[18]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b Poets, Academy of American. "About May Sarton | Academy of American Poets". poets.org. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  2. ^ a b May Sarton: A Poet February 3, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Harvard Square Library.
  3. ^ a b "May Sarton: A Poet's Life". digital.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Sarton, May, 1912-1995. (1997). May Sarton : selected letters, 1916-1954. Sherman, Susan (Susan Jean), 1939-. London: Women's Press. ISBN 0-7043-4535-8. OCLC 43125718.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "May Sarton, Novelist, Poet, and Memoirist | LiteraryLadiesGuide". Literary Ladies Guide. June 2, 2018. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Pobo, Kenneth (2002). . Chicago. Chicago: glbtq, Inc. Archived from the original on August 15, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2007.
  7. ^ "May Sarton". Unitarian Universalist Historical Society.
  8. ^ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter S" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 25, 2014.
  9. ^ "May Sarton: A Poet's Life". digital.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  10. ^ "May Sarton". Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Retrieved May 10, 2009.
  11. ^ a b "May Sarton". Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. November 30, 2018. Retrieved November 30, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  12. ^ "May Sarton Selected Bibliography". digital.library.upenn.edu. Retrieved November 30, 2018.
  13. ^ Sarton, May (1992). Journal of a Solitude. WW Norton & Company.
  14. ^ Journal of a Solitude, 1973, pp. 90-91.
  15. ^ Peters, Margot. (1998). May Sarton : a biography (1st ed.). New York: Fawcett Columbine. ISBN 0-449-90798-8. OCLC 39440918.
  16. ^ Goreau, Angeline. Late Bloomer. The New York Times. April 6, 1997. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  17. ^ May Sarton: A Biography. Kirkus Reviews. February 15, 1997. Retrieved August 28, 2021.
  18. ^ "archives.nypl.org -- May Sarton Papers". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved January 13, 2020.

External links

  • Karen Saum (Fall 1983). "May Sarton, The Art of Poetry No. 32". The Paris Review. Fall 1983 (89).
  • "May Sarton," Poetry Foundation.
  • May Sarton Collection, University of New England, Portland, Maine.
  • "May Sarton Shrine". Language is a Virus.
  • "May Sarton: A Poet's Life". University of Pennsylvania.
  • "About May Sarton". Goodale Hill Press.
  • "May Sarton". Find a Grave. May Sarton on Find A Grave
  • Guide to the May Sarton Collection 1950-1954 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center

January 07, 2023
sarton, name, eleanore, marie, sarton, 1912, july, 1995, belgian, american, poet, novelist, memoirist, although, best, work, strongly, personalised, with, erotic, female, imagery, resisted, label, lesbian, writer, preferring, convey, universality, human, love,. May Sarton was the pen name of Eleanore Marie Sarton 1 May 3 1912 July 16 1995 a Belgian American poet novelist and memoirist Although her best work is strongly personalised with erotic female imagery she resisted the label of lesbian writer preferring to convey the universality of human love May SartonBornEleanore Marie Sarton 1912 05 03 May 3 1912Wondelgem BelgiumDiedJuly 16 1995 1995 07 16 aged 83 York MaineResting placeNelson New HampshireOccupationNovelist poet memoiristNationalityBelgian AmericanGenreFiction non fiction poetry children s literatureNotable awardsSarton Memoir AwardPartnerJudith Judy Matlack Contents 1 Biography 2 Works and themes 3 Bibliography 3 1 Poetry books 3 2 Nonfiction 3 3 Novels 3 4 Children s books 3 5 Play 3 6 Letters 4 References 5 External linksBiography EditSarton was born in Wondelgem Belgium today a part of the city of Ghent 1 the only child of historian of science George Sarton and his wife English artist Mabel Eleanor Elwes When German troops invaded Belgium after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914 her family fled to Ipswich England where Sarton s maternal grandmother lived citation needed One year later they moved to Boston Massachusetts where her father started working at Harvard University Sarton started theatre lessons in her late teens but continued writing poetry throughout her adolescence She went to school in Cambridge Massachusetts graduating from Cambridge High and Latin School in 1929 citation needed Sarton won a scholarship to Vassar but felt drawn to the theater after seeing Eva Le Gallienne perform in The Cradle Song She joined Le Gallienne s Civic Repertory Theatre in New York and spent a year working as an apprentice However Sarton continued to write poetry When she was seventeen she published a series of sonnets in December 1930 some of which were featured in her first published volume Encounter in April 1937 2 3 When she was nineteen Sarton traveled to Europe living in Paris for a year In this time she met such literary and cultural figures as Virginia Woolf Elizabeth Bowen Julian Huxley and Juliette Huxley Lugne Poe Basil de Selincourt and S S Koteliansky Sarton had affairs with both of the Huxleys 4 It was within this environment and community that she published her first novel The Single Hound 1938 3 In 1945 in Santa Fe New Mexico she met Judith Judy Matlack 5 September 9 1898 December 22 1982 who became her partner for the next thirteen years They separated in 1956 when Sarton s father died and Sarton moved to Nelson New Hampshire Honey in the Hive 1988 is about their relationship 6 In her memoir At Seventy Sarton reflected on Judy s importance in her life and her Sarton s Unitarian Universalist upbringing 7 She was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1958 8 Sarton later moved to York Maine In 1990 she was temporarily debilitated by a stroke Since writing was difficult she used a tape recorder to record and transcribe her journal Endgame A Journal of the Seventy Ninth Year 1992 Despite her physical difficulties she maintained her sense of independence Endgame was followed by the journal Encore A Journal of the Eightieth Year 1993 a celebration of Sarton s life She won the Levinson Prize for Poetry in 1993 Her final book Coming Into Eighty 1995 published after her death covers the year from July 1993 to August 1994 describing her attitude of gratitude for life as she wrestled with the experience of aging 9 She died of breast cancer on July 16 1995 and is buried in Nelson Cemetery Nelson New Hampshire 10 Works and themes EditMay Sarton wrote 53 books including 19 novels 17 books of poetry 15 nonfiction works 2 children s books a play and additional screenplays 11 12 According to The Poetry Foundation Sarton s style as defined by critics is calm cultured and urbane 11 In much of her writing Sarton maintains a politically conscious lens but what is considered May Sarton s best and most enduring work lies in her journals and memoirs particularly Plant Dreaming Deep about her early years at Nelson ca 1958 68 Journal of a Solitude 1972 1973 often considered her best The House by the Sea 1974 1976 Recovering 1978 1979 and At Seventy 1982 1983 In these fragile rambling and honest accounts of her solitary life she deals with such issues as aging isolation solitude friendship love and relationships lesbianism self doubt success and failure envy gratitude for life s simple pleasures love of nature particularly of flowers the changing seasons spirituality and importantly the constant struggles of a creative life Sarton s later journals are not of the same quality as she endeavored to keep writing through ill health and by dictation Although many of her earlier works such as Encounter in April contain vivid erotic female imagery May Sarton often emphasized in her journals that she didn t see herself as a lesbian writer The vision of life in my work is not limited to one segment of humanity and has little to do with sexual proclivity 13 Rather she wanted to touch on what is universally human about love in all its manifestations When publishing her novel Mrs Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing in 1965 she feared that writing openly about lesbianism would lead to a diminution of the previously established value of her work The fear of homosexuality is so great that it took courage to write Mrs Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing she wrote in Journal of a Solitude to write a novel about a woman homosexual who is not a sex maniac a drunkard a drug taker or in any way repulsive to portray a homosexual who is neither pitiable nor disgusting without sentimentality 14 After the book s release many of Sarton s works began to be studied in university level women s studies classes being embraced by feminists and lesbians alike 2 Margot Peters controversial authorized biography 1998 revealed May Sarton as a complex individual who often struggled in her relationships 15 Peters book was often scathing People who had the misfortune to become her intimates almost universally came to regret it On the slightest of pretexts Ms Peters has it Sarton subjected them to terrible scenes nights of weeping rages blowups She was expert at emotional blackmail and behaved badly in restaurants Self absorbed and insensitive May Sarton wooed others with extravagant attentions only to betray and humiliate them later with scant regard Ms Peters observes for the chaos left in her wake 16 but the biography was considered thoughtful even handed and well written 17 A selected edition of Sarton s letters was edited by Susan Sherman in 1997 4 and many of Sarton s papers are held in the New York Public Library 18 Bibliography EditPoetry books Edit Encounter in April 1937 Inner Landscape 1939 The Lion and the Rose 1948 The Land of Silence 1953 In Time Like Air 1958 Cloud Stone Sun Vine 1961 A Private Mythology 1966 As Does New Hampshire 1967 A Grain of Mustard Seed 1971 A Durable Fire 1972 Collected Poems 1930 1973 1974 Selected Poems of May Sarton edited by Serena Sue Hilsinger and Lois Brynes 1978 Halfway to Silence 1980 Letters from Maine 1984 Collected Poems 1930 1993 1993 Coming Into Eighty 1994 Winner of the Levinson Prize From May Sarton s Well Writings of May Sarton edited by Edith Royce Schade 1999 Nonfiction Edit I Knew a Phoenix Sketches for an Autobiography 1959 Plant Dreaming Deep 1968 Journal of a Solitude 1973 A World of Light 1976 The House by the Sea 1977 Recovering A Journal 1980 Writings on Writing 1980 May Sarton A Self Portrait 1982 At Seventy A Journal 1984 After the Stroke 1988 Endgame A Journal of the Seventy Ninth Year 1992 Encore A Journal of the Eightieth Year 1993 At Eighty Two 1996 Novels Edit The Single Hound 1938 The Bridge of Years 1946 The Return of Corporal Greene 1946 Shadow of a Man 1950 A Shower of Summer Days 1952 Faithful are the Wounds 1955 The Birth of a Grandfather 1957 The Fur Person 1957 The Small Room 1961 Joanna and Ulysses 1963 Mrs Stevens Hears the Mermaids Singing 1965 Miss Pickthorn and Mr Hare 1966 The Poet and the Donkey 1969 Kinds of Love 1970 As We Are Now 1973 Crucial Conversations 1975 A Reckoning 1978 Anger 1982 The Magnificent Spinster 1985 The Education of Harriet Hatfield 1989 Children s books Edit Punch s Secret 1974 A Walk Through the Woods 1976 Play Edit The Music Box Bird 1993 Letters Edit May Sarton Selected Letters 1997 Dear Juliette Letters of May Sarton to Juliette Huxley 1999 References Edit a b Poets Academy of American About May Sarton Academy of American Poets poets org Retrieved March 10 2022 a b May Sarton A Poet Archived February 3 2012 at the Wayback Machine Harvard Square Library a b May Sarton A Poet s Life digital library upenn edu Retrieved November 30 2018 a b Sarton May 1912 1995 1997 May Sarton selected letters 1916 1954 Sherman Susan Susan Jean 1939 London Women s Press ISBN 0 7043 4535 8 OCLC 43125718 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link May Sarton Novelist Poet and Memoirist LiteraryLadiesGuide Literary Ladies Guide June 2 2018 Retrieved March 10 2022 Pobo Kenneth 2002 Sarton May Chicago Chicago glbtq Inc Archived from the original on August 15 2007 Retrieved August 29 2007 May Sarton Unitarian Universalist Historical Society Book of Members 1780 2010 Chapter S PDF American Academy of Arts and Sciences Retrieved July 25 2014 May Sarton A Poet s Life digital library upenn edu Retrieved November 30 2018 May Sarton Poets org Academy of American Poets Retrieved May 10 2009 a b May Sarton Poetry Foundation Poetry Foundation November 30 2018 Retrieved November 30 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint others link May Sarton Selected Bibliography digital library upenn edu Retrieved November 30 2018 Sarton May 1992 Journal of a Solitude WW Norton amp Company Journal of a Solitude 1973 pp 90 91 Peters Margot 1998 May Sarton a biography 1st ed New York Fawcett Columbine ISBN 0 449 90798 8 OCLC 39440918 Goreau Angeline Late Bloomer The New York Times April 6 1997 Retrieved August 28 2021 May Sarton A Biography Kirkus Reviews February 15 1997 Retrieved August 28 2021 archives nypl org May Sarton Papers archives nypl org Retrieved January 13 2020 External links EditKaren Saum Fall 1983 May Sarton The Art of Poetry No 32 The Paris Review Fall 1983 89 May Sarton Poetry Foundation May Sarton Collection University of New England Portland Maine May Sarton Shrine Language is a Virus May Sarton A Poet s Life University of Pennsylvania About May Sarton Goodale Hill Press May Sarton Find a Grave May Sarton on Find A Grave Guide to the May Sarton Collection 1950 1954 at the University of Chicago Special Collections Research Center Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title May Sarton amp oldid 1132007239, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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