John Ashbery

John Ashbery (1927 – 2017) was one of the greatest American poets of the twentieth century, winning almost every one of the country’s literary awards. His first collection was Some Trees (1957) which won a competition judged by WH Auden (later said that he hadn’t understood any of the poems). Ashbery’s later work was influenced by abstract expressionism and his experience as an art critic. He believed that poetry should reflect the fluidity and uncertainty of life.