Philip Levine was born in Detroit, Michigan, to Russian Jewish immigrants. Working in factories while earning his degrees, Levine had a close connection with the working class, which was a major influence on his poetry. Levine received the Pulitzer Prize for his 1994 collection The Simple Truth and in 2011 was appointed poet laureate of the United States.
More By This Poet
My Brother the Artist, at Seven
As a boy he played alone in the fields
behind our block, six frame houses
holding six immigrant families,
the parents speaking only gibberish
to their neighbors. Without the kids
they couldn't say "Good morning" and be
understood. Little wonder
he learned early to speak to himself,
to...