Untitled Subjects
Pulitzer Prize-winning poetry collection and a defining example of Howard's dramatic-monologue technique.
Author guide
Richard Howard Books in Order
Richard Howard (1929–2022) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, translator, and educator. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he studied at Columbia University and the Sorbonne, taught at the University of Houston and Columbia University, and served as poetry editor of The Paris Review. He won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Untitled Subjects and the National Book Award for his translation of Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal. His criticism includes Alone with America and Paper Trail, while his poetry often adopts historical, literary, and imagined voices.
poetryliterary criticismessaystranslation
Catalog record updated .
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Quantities
Howard's first published poetry collection.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Nonfiction (1)
- Alone with America: Essays on the Art of Poetry in the United States Since 1950
literary-criticism · 1969
Essays and speeches (1)
- Paper Trail: Selected Prose, 1965–2003
essay-collection · 2004
Poetry (15)
- Quantities
poetry-collection · 1962
- The Damages
poetry-collection · 1967
- Untitled Subjects
poetry-collection · 1969
- Findings: A Book of Poems
poetry-collection · 1971
- Two-Part Inventions
poetry-collection · 1974
- Fellow Feelings
poetry-collection · 1976
- Misgivings
poetry-collection · 1979
- Lining Up
poetry-collection · 1984
- No Traveller: Poems
poetry-collection · 1989
- Like Most Revelations: New Poems
poetry-collection · 1994
- Trappings: New Poems
poetry-collection · 1999
- Talking Cures: New Poems
poetry-collection · 2002
- The Silent Treatment
poetry-collection · 2005
- Without Saying
poetry-collection · 2008
- A Progressive Education: Poems
poetry-collection · 2014
Other (1)
- If I Dream I Have You, I Have You: Poems
chapbook · 1997
Frequently asked questions about Richard Howard
Who was Richard Howard?
Richard Howard (1929–2022) was an American poet, literary critic, essayist, translator, and teacher.
Sources: poets.org (opens in a new tab)arts.columbia.edu (opens in a new tab)
Where was Richard Howard born and educated?
He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on October 13, 1929. He earned his degrees at Columbia University and later studied at the Sorbonne as a French government fellow.
Source: poets.org (opens in a new tab)
What was Richard Howard known for as a translator?
Howard translated more than 150 works from French into English, including works by Baudelaire, Stendhal, Gide, and Roland Barthes. His translation of Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal won the 1983 National Book Award for Translation.
Sources: poets.org (opens in a new tab)nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)
What major awards did Richard Howard receive?
He won the 1970 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Untitled Subjects and the 1983 National Book Award for Translation for his Baudelaire translation. He also received a MacArthur Fellowship and the French Ordre National du Mérite.
Sources: pulitzer.org (opens in a new tab)nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)poets.org (opens in a new tab)
How did Richard Howard influence American poetry and literature?
Beyond his own writing, Howard shaped American literary culture as a long-time poetry editor of The Paris Review, a Columbia teacher, and a mentor to younger poets. His dramatic-monologue poems and translations helped connect contemporary readers with historical figures and major French writers.
Sources: arts.columbia.edu (opens in a new tab)theparisreview.org (opens in a new tab)