Berryman, John (1914-1972), was an American poet and critic. He wrote about his experiences in a personal, sometimes obscure style. His most famous poem, Homage to Mistress Bradstreet (1950), re-creates the life of Anne Bradstreet, a colonial American poet. In this long narrative dialogue, Bradstreet and Berryman discuss both the colonial and the modern world.
Berryman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1965 for his autobiographical collection 77 Dream Songs (1964). He wrote a continuation of this work called His Toy, His Dream, His Rest (1968). Both volumes reflect Berryman’s vision of death as a welcome rest after the intense joy and pain of life. Much of this work deals with the impact of his father’s suicide, which occurred when Berryman was 12 years old. Berryman’s best-known work of literary criticism was Stephen Crane (1950), a critical biography of the American novelist and poet.
John Berryman was born on Oct. 25, 1914, in McAlester, Oklahoma. He taught at the University of Minnesota from 1954 until his suicide on Jan. 7, 1972, at the age of 57. Berryman’s Collected Poems, 1937-1971 was published in 1989.
