In this latest episode, we explore the question of being an artist in a confused age with critic, translator, former Poet Laureate of California and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Dana Gioia. From Plato to pop songs, Greek theatre to Italian opera, and archaic magic to modern enchantment, we cover a wide range of subjects.
Dana Gioia was born in Hawthorne, California, on December 24, 1950. He received a BA from Stanford University. Before returning to Stanford to earn an MBA, he completed an MA in comparative literature at Harvard University, where he studied with the poets Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Fitzgerald. In 1977, Gioia moved to New York to begin a career in business. For fifteen years Gioia worked as a businessman, eventually becoming a vice president of General Foods. In 1992, after publishing his first book of poetry, Daily Horoscope (Graywolf Press), in 1986, he left business to become a full-time writer.
Check out Dana’s latest book, Poetry as Enchantment and Other Essays, along with some of his other classics below.
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