Allen Turner Cassity (January 12, 1929 in Jackson, Mississippi – July 26, 2009 in Atlanta)[1] was an American poet, playwright, and short story writer.

Turner Cassity
BornAllen Turner Cassity
(1929-01-12)January 12, 1929
Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
DiedJuly 26, 2009(2009-07-26) (aged 80)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Resting placeForest, Mississippi, U.S.
Occupation
  • Poet
  • playwright
  • short story writer
Alma materMillsaps College
Stanford University
Columbia University
ParentsAllen Cassity
Dorothy Cassity

Life

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He was the son of Dorothy and Allen Cassity, and grew up in Jackson and Forest, Mississippi. He graduated from Millsaps College and Stanford University with a master's degree.[2]

Cassity was drafted into the United States Army and stationed in Puerto Rico from 1952 to 1954.[3] He attended Columbia University on the GI Bill. He worked at the Robert W. Woodruff Library at Emory University, from 1962 to 1991,[4] and also taught poetry there.

He is buried in Forest, Mississippi.[3] His papers are at Emory University.[5]

Awards

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Works

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  • Watchboy, What of the Night?. Wesleyan University Press. 1966.
  • Steeplejacks in Babel. D. R. Godine. 1973. ISBN 978-0-87923-070-8.
  • Yellow for Peril, Black for Beautiful. G. Braziller. 1975. ISBN 978-0-8076-0775-6.
  • The Defense of the Sugar Islands: a recruiting poster. Symposium Press. 1979.
  • Phaëthon unter den Linden. Iris Press. 1979.
  • Keys to Mayerling. Robert L. Barth. 1983. ISBN 978-0-941150-14-9.
  • The Airship Boys in Africa. Hendricks. 1984. ISBN 978-0-943764-01-6.
  • Hurricane Lamp. University of Chicago Press. 1986. ISBN 978-0-226-09615-5.
  • Lessons. Para Press. 1987. ISBN 978-0-941150-57-6.
  • To the Lost City, or, the Sins of Nineveh. R.L. Barth. 1989. ISBN 978-0-941150-74-3.
  • Between the Chains. University of Chicago Press. 1991. ISBN 978-0-226-09617-9. Turner Cassity.
  • The Destructive Element: New and Selected Poems. Ohio University Press. 1998. ISBN 978-0-8214-1221-3.
  • No Second Eden. Ohio University Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0-8040-1050-4.
  • "Crystal but not crystal ball". The New Criterion. November 2006.
  • Devils & islands: poems. Ohio University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0-8040-1102-0.
  • "Four poems (published posthumously)". Able Muse, Tribute Issue. December 2009.
  • "Turner Cassity Reads at the Huntington Library, April 12, 2003 (video)". Able Muse, Tribute Issue. December 2009.

Verse plays

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  • Silver Out of Shanghai (1973)
  • The Book of Alna (1985)

Anthologies

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Criticism

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Ploughshares

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References

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  1. ^ 'The New Georgia Encyclopedia Companion to Georgia Literature', edited by Hugh Ruppersburg, John C. Inscoe, 2011, page 75
  2. ^ "Turner Cassity, 80, award-winning poet and Emory librarian". Ajc.com. 2009-08-11. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  3. ^ a b "Turner Cassity (1929-2009) | New Georgia Encyclopedia". Georgiaencyclopedia.org. 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  4. ^ David Yezzi. "Turner Cassity". The Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
  5. ^ [1] Archived November 18, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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