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About
Born in a suburb of Los Angeles, Gioia was surrounded by poetry since childhood, stating that his Mexican-American mother often recited and read poetry and possessed no higher education of her own. Gioia came to believe that poetry is not “an intrinsically difficult art whose mysteries can be appreciated only by a trained intellectual” (PoetryFoundation.org).
After earning his B.A. from Stanford University in Business, Gioia studied Comparative Literature at Harvard University under the tutelage Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Fitzgerald.
Gioia’s many hats include former vice president at General Foods, winner of the American Book Award (for Interrogations at Noon of 2001), several positions teaching poetry on the university level, as well as, of course, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts from 2003 to 2008. He is responsible for initiating such programs as Poetry Out Loud, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, and Shakespeare in American Communities, as well as several others.
Though Gioia often writes in free verse, he is best known for his work in the New Formalism school, a movement begun in the 1990s to reinvigorate contemporary poetry with traditional form. Gioia is also a translator, opera librettist, essayist, and reviewer.
–Christie Finn
Related Information
Songs
A Curse on Geographers
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Autumn Elegy
Accomplice
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Alley Cat Love Song
Alva Henderson
Dana Gioia
Alley Cat Love Song
Beth Anderson
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Dark Songs
Alley Cat Love Song
Paul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Bad Pets
Autumn Elegy
Song CollectionStefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Bad Pets
Song CollectionPaul Salerni
Mark Doty
Robert Frost
Dana Gioia
Becoming a Redwood
Lori Laitman
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Becoming a Redwood
Being Happy
Lori Laitman
Dana Gioia
Curriculum Vitae
Lori Laitman
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Becoming a Redwood
Dark Songs
Song CollectionBeth Anderson
Dana Gioia
David Mason
Departures
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Entrances and Departures
Entrance
David Conte
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Everyone Sang
Entrance
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Entrances and Departures
Everyone Sang
Song CollectionDavid Conte
A. E. Stallings
Dana Gioia
Diane Thiel
Siegfried Sassoon
Garden on the Campagna
Paul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Sad Stories
God Only Knows
John Harbison
Dana Gioia
Insomnia
Song CollectionTom Cipullo
Dana Gioia
Howard Moss
Walt Whitman
Insomnia
Tom Cipullo
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Insomnia
Insomnia
David Felder
Dana Gioia
Money
Paul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Orchestra
Dave Brubeck
Dana Gioia
Orchestra (after Nina Cassian)
Paul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Speaking of Love
Parts of Summer Weather
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Entrances and Departures
Pentecost
Lori Laitman
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Becoming a Redwood
Planting a Sequoia
Alva Henderson
Dana Gioia
Summer Storm
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Entrances and Departures
Sunday Night in Santa Rosa
Beth Anderson
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Dark Songs
The Apple Orchard
Lori Laitman
Dana Gioia
The Country Wife
Alva Henderson
Dana Gioia
The End
Ned Rorem
Dana Gioia
The End of a Season
Michael Rickelton
Dana Gioia
The End of the World
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Autumn Elegy
The Song
Alva Henderson
Dana Gioia
The Song
Lori Laitman
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Becoming a Redwood
The Song (after Rilke)
Paul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Speaking of Love
Speaking of Love
Paul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Speaking of Love
Speaking of Love
Song CollectionPaul Salerni
Dana Gioia
Touch
Alva Henderson
Dana Gioia
Veterans' Cemetery
Stefania de Kenessey
Dana Gioia
Song Collection: Autumn Elegy
Veterans' Cemetery
Stephen Flaherty
Dana Gioia
Videos
Recordings
Books
Sheet Music
Becoming a Redwood (High voice)
Composer(s): Lori Laitman
Song(s): 1. The Song
2. Pentecost
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Becoming a Redwood
Voice Type: High
Buy via Classical Vocal ReprintsBecoming a Redwood (Medium Voice)
Composer(s): Lori Laitman
Song(s): 1. The Song
2. Pentecost
3. Curriculum Vitae
4. Becoming a Redwood
Voice Type: Medium
Buy via Classical Vocal ReprintsEveryone Sang
Composer(s): David Conte
Song(s): 1. Homecoming
2. Entrance
Quilt
4. Everyone Sang