Thom Gunn comes to us from San Francisco, where
he's been living since 1954.
He moved from England when he was just a child.
He teaches at the University of California, Berkeley.
[LAUGHTER]
You guys are slow tonight.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm not going to read the full list of his books,
because it is too long, and I don't want to take his time.
But his most recent collection of poetry
is The Passages of Joy, which came out
from London from Faber and Faber,
and in New York from Farrar, Straus.
He has Selected Poems, which came out in 1975.
He last read for us 14 years ago.
Doesn't seem that long ago.
In addition to his books of poetry,
he has a book of critical and autobiographical essays called
The Occasions of Poetry, which we have at the Poetry Center.
And I think many of you would enjoy looking into it as well
as into the poetry.
His honors include a Levinson Prize for poetry, the Maugham
Award, a grant from the American Academy,
and a Guggenheim fellowship.
It's a great pleasure to welcome Thom Gunn to our campus.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you very much, and it's a great pleasure
to be here again.
I was actually 25 when I came here,
but if you want to say I was a child, then that's great.
[LAUGHTER]