Theodore Roethke
(1908–1963)

Throughout the course of his career, Theodore Roethke focused his poetry on the various aspects of his own life. Although his style changed during the period between the publication of his first book, Open House (1941), and the appearance of his posthumous collection, The Far Field (1964), Roethke continued to seek a sense of self by exploring his personal experiences in his poetry.

Roethke grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, where his family owned several large commercial greenhouses. In his family's greenhouses, he observed nature putting forth roots and blossoms, as well as falling into dormancy and death. These observations later provided him with ideas and inspiration for many of his poems.

After receiving his education at the University of Michigan and Harvard, Roethke taught writing at Bennington College, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Washington. A slow, diligent writer, Roethke spent many years assembling poems for his first book. He went on to publish several more volumes, including The Lost Son (1948), The Waking (1953), and Words for the Wind (1958). In 1954, he received a Pulitzer Prize for The Waking, and two years after his death he was awarded the National Book Award for The Far Field.

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