Happy Birthday to William Carlos Williams, Poet and Doctor
September 17, 1883 is the birthdate of William Carlos Williams, a renowned poet and medical doctor. Williams’ mother was a Sephardic (Spanish) Jew, and she was a tremendous inspiration for his work. Williams was born in Rutherford, New York, and educated in Geneva, Switzerland and at the University of Pennsylvania. Williams practiced as a pediatrician for over 40 years, and wrote his brilliant, evocative poetry in his spare time. Williams memorialized his mother in his work, “I Wanted to Write a Poem”, about her ordeals as a woman and as an immigrant. Williams’ powerful imagery and modernism in turn influenced a generation of American poets. Please visit www.PoetryFoundation.org and download their wonderful app, which includes Williams’ poems. (Photo by Lisa Larsen, Time & Life/ Getty Images)
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