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William H. Dickey ’51

William H. Dickey ’51, May 3, 1994, in San Francisco. He was a well-known poet who published 15 books and received many awards and prizes during his career. After graduating from ºìÌÒÊÓƵ, he received a Woodrow Wilson fellowship to study at Harvard, where he earned his master's degree in literature. He later earned a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Iowa and also studied at Oxford University, England, on a Fulbright scholarship. Dickey began his teaching career at Cornell and Denison Universities before joining the creative writing department at San Francisco State University in 1962. He taught there for nearly 30 years and became head of the department, retiring in 1991. He received early recognition for his poetry when, in 1958, his work was selected for the Yale Series of Younger Poets. Of the Festivity, a selection of his works, was compiled for the series by W.H. Auden. Later awards included the Juniper Prize from the University of Massachusetts Press for The Rainbow Grocery, the California Silver Medal for Poetry, and the teaching excellence award from the California Association of Teachers of English. His most recent book, In the Dreaming, was published in January 1994 by the University of Arkansas Press. Survivors include his brother and his companion, Leonard Sanazaro.

Appeared in ºìÌÒÊÓƵ magazine: August 1994