Timeline
Personal
Career
Genre
Key
January 17, 1914 - "Stafford was born in Hutchison, Kansas" (poets.org).
1937 - The University of Kansas gave Stafford his bachelor's degree (Oregon Encyclopedia).
1942 - Stafford registered as a conscientious objector when called for active military service. He went to Civilian Public Service camps for interships (Oregon Encyclopedia). In 1947, he would publish his master thesis based on these experiences under the title Down in My Heart (Britannica).
1944 - "Stafford married Dorothy Hope Frantz" (poets.org).
1945 - The contemporary period started after the end of World War II. People started writing contemporary poetry. This period has lasted to the modern day, and many movements have come from this period (poemanalysis.com).
1948 - Stafford started teaching at Lewis and Clark College (poets.org).
1955 - Stafford recieved a doctorate from the University of Iowa (Britannica).
1960 - Stafford published a collection of poems titled West of Your City, based on his doctoral dissertation. Two years later, he would publish another collection based on his doctoral dissertation titled Traveling through the Dark. This would earn the National Book Award for Poetry (Oregon Encyclopedia).
1964 - Stafford was awarded the Shelley Memorial Award by the Poetry Society of America (Oregon Encyclopedia).
1979 - Stafford retired after working in Lewis & Clark College for over thirty years. He would still briefly teach at a few other colleges. He pioneered poetry reading and writing workshops, and he continued these after his retirement (Oregon Encyclopedia).
August 28, 1993 - Stafford passed away (poets.org).
