We met Sandy at his reading at the Mystic Arts Center, and also got to meet his partner Chip. They are really lovely folks who have a home not too far away in SE Connecticut. I adore Sandy’s poetry and, as it turns out, Chip is a fan of my bear fiction. I like this piece from R. Jackson, who sent me something he wrote for his former blog on Daddyhunt, which they have yet to publish.
Older gay man J.D. McClatchy named arts honor society president
Following Mark Doty’s achievement of winning a National Book Award in November, another distinguished mature American gay male poet has been honored. In February, J.D. “Sandy” McClatchy, was named president of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
An English professor at Yale University, McClatchy was elected ten years ago to join the elite society of only 250 writers, composers, artists, and architects, considered the highest formal recognition of artistic achievement in the United States.
Founded in 1898, the Academy’s purpose is “to foster and sustain an interest in Literature, Music, and the Fine Arts by identifying and encouraging individual artists,” according to its Website.
McClatchy, 57, who also serves as editor of the prestigious literary journal Yale Review, said he was notified in an anonymous phone call that he would be elected president for the three-year term — and that he was the sole candidate.
McClatchy asked the caller, who identified himself only as a painter on the appointment committee, if he could consider the matter before deciding, and was basically told that wasn’t an option. “Well, it’s rude to say no to a stranger, and of course it’s an honor because this is an organization that does extraordinary and often unsung work.”
A Guggenheim fellow and author of six collections of poetry and thirteen opera libretti, McClatchy’s 2002 poetry book, Hazmat, was a Pulitzer Award finalist.
His latest collection, Mercury Dressing, was published in February by Knopf.
McClatchy lives in Connecticut with his partner, the noted graphic designer and author Chip Kidd.
Reprinted by permission of R. Jackson
J. D. McClatchy photo: Benjamin Dimmitt. Image from: http://www.artsandletters.org/press_releases/web_mcclatchy.jpg
