Baroque fountain in the garden of Villa Sciarra
The prize-winning poet Richard Wilbur, a Fellow from 1955, died on October 14, 2017, at the age of 96.
Wilbur won his first Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Things of This World (1956) in 1957, only two years after completing his fellowship years. He was awarded a second Pulitzer in 1988. Other awards included Poet Laureate of the United States. His obituary in the New York Times provides a full overview of his long career. It cites “A Baroque Wall-Fountain in the Villa Sciarra” as one of his most brilliant poems.