Saskia Hamilton was a renowned poet, editor, and professor who published four collections of poetry and edited several volumes of letters by prominent American poets. She was also a vice provost at Barnard College and a recipient of many prestigious awards and fellowships. She died on June 7, 2023, at the age of 56, after a long struggle with cancer. Her death has left a void in the literary world and in the hearts of her family, friends, colleagues, and students.
Early Life and Education
Saskia Hamilton was born in Washington, D.C., on May 5, 1967, to Elise Wiarda and John Andrew Hamilton Jr Her mother was an artist and therapist who had survived the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam as a child. Her father was a writer and editor who worked for the Congressional Budget Office and The Post and Courier She had four siblings
Hamilton grew up listening to poetry read by her father and grandmother, and started writing poetry seriously when she was about 18. She graduated from Kenyon College with a B.A. in 1989, where she won a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. The fellowship enabled her to attend New York University, where she earned her M.A. in English and creative writing in 1991. She later obtained her Ph.D. from Boston University in 1999
Career and Achievements
Hamilton was a prolific poet, editor, and scholar who made significant contributions to the field of American literature. She published four collections of poetry: As for Dream (2001), Divide These (2005), Corridor (2014), and The Dutch House (2018). Her fifth collection, All Souls, is set to be posthumously published in September 2023. Her poems were praised for their clarity, precision, elegance, and intelligence. She also edited several books of letters by Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Hardwick, and Elizabeth Bishop, as well as a volume of Lowell’s poems titled New Selected Poems (2017). She was an expert on Lowell’s life and work, and wrote extensively about his poetry and biography
Hamilton was also a distinguished teacher and administrator who held various positions at Barnard College since 2002. She was a professor of English and comparative literature, the director of the women poets at Barnard reading series, the co-director of the creative writing program, and the vice provost for academic programs and curriculum. She was beloved by her students for her generosity, patience, kindness, and insight. She also taught at several other institutions, including Harvard University, Kenyon College, New York University, Boston University, Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Lithuania, and Montreal, and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown
Hamilton received many honors and awards for her work, such as the Pegasus Award for Poetry Criticism (2016), the Morton N. Cohen Award (2018), the Guggenheim Fellowship (2019), the National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship (2020), and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship (2021). She was also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022) and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2023)
Personal Life and Death
Hamilton was married to David Wallace-Wells, a journalist and author who is the deputy editor of New York magazine and the writer of The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming (2019). They had one son, Lucien Wallace-Wells Hamilton, who was born in 2016. Hamilton was a devoted mother who cherished spending time with her family. She also enjoyed traveling, gardening, cooking, reading, and listening to music
Hamilton was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 and underwent several treatments to fight the disease. She continued to work on her poetry and academic projects until her final days. She died in Manhattan on June 7, 2023, surrounded by her loved ones. Her death was announced by Graywolf Press , her publisher , who expressed their sadness at losing a brilliant poet , essayist , scholar , and teacher . Her words and her presence are deeply missed but abiding
Hamilton’s funeral service was held on June 12 , 2023 , at St . John’s Episcopal Church in Washington , D.C . Her ashes were scattered in Kenyon College , where she had studied and taught . A memorial service was also held on June 19 , 2023 , at Barnard College , where she had worked and inspired many students and colleagues . Her family requested that donations in her memory be made to the Poetry Foundation , the Lannan Foundation , or the Barnard English Department
Hamilton’s legacy lives on in her poetry , her scholarship , her teaching , and her love . She was a remarkable person who touched many lives with her grace , wisdom , and beauty . She will be remembered as one of the finest poets and scholars of her generation , and as a loving and loyal friend , partner , mother , daughter , sister , and mentor . Farewell , beloved Saskia
