Russell Edson (né Edelstein; 12 December 1928 – April 29, 2014) was an American
poet, novelist, writer, and illustrator. He was the son of the cartoonist-screenwriter
Gus Edson and Gladys Cedar Edson.
Born in Manhattan, New York City, Edson studied art early in life and attended the Art Students League as a teenager. He began publishing poetry in the 1950s. His honors as a poet include a
Guggenheim fellowship,[1] a
Whiting Award,[2] and several fellowships from the
National Endowment for the Arts.[3]
Edson self-published several chapbooks and later, numerous collections of
prose poetry, fables, two
novels, Gulping's Recital and The Song of Percival Peacock, and a book of plays under the title, The Falling Sickness. His final book was See Jack (
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009).
Ketchup opera in 2 acts. Text By Russell Edson, music by
Franklin Stover. Scored for 2 voices & chamber orchestra.
The Song of Percival Peacock - an entertainment for reed quintet and narrator set to prose poems of Russell Edson, by Franklin Stover. (Edition Hohenstaufen, 2017)
Honors and awards
1992 National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship[7]