May Sarton
May Eleanor Sarton, a poet and novelist, was born in Wendelgem, Belgium
on May 3, 1912, and immigrated to the United States at age four. Educated
in the U.S. and abroad, she has taught and lectured on poetry at a number
of universities, including Bryn Mawr, Wellesley College, and Harvard. Encounter
in April (1937), her first collection of lyrics, was followed by many
more volumes of poetry. Her first two novels, The Single Hound (1938)
and Bridge of Years (1946), had European settings, but since 1955,
New England has provided the background for most of her fiction. Faithful
Are the Wounds (1955) tells of a dedicated professor's suicide amid
the political pressures of the McCarthy era, and Kinds of Love (1970)
explores the difficulties and triumphs of human love. A Reckoning
(1978) and Anger (1982) continue this exploration, but the protagonists
are now middle aged and less sanguine about the possibilities in human relationships.
In addition to her many novels, Sarton has written a play, a screenplay,
and such personal works as The Hours by the Sea (1977) and After
the Stroke: A Journal (1988).
Her sonnet sequence, A Divorce of Lovers, is a brilliant study of
two lesbians and the death of their affair.
There is a film about Ms. Sarton's life entitled "World of Light:
Portrait of May Sarton." Filmed with the cooperation of May Sarton
herself, we get a good picture of her life as a woman writer outside the
mainstream. This film documents the final period of her long career, contemplating
her work, her loves, and her influence on other women. It is available for
checkout at the OGLBTC (1180 BSB).
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