About this Artist
J. D. McCLATCHY is the author of five collections of poetry, most recently Hazmat, a finalist for the 2003 Pulitzer Prize. He has also written three books of essays, including American Writers at Home, and, in addition, edited dozens of other books. He teaches at Yale University, where he runs its Creative Writing Program and edits its distinguished journal, The Yale Review. For the past two decades he was worked in the opera house as well. He has written many libretti for operas performed around the world, including Tobias Picker's Emmeline, Ned Rorem's Our Town, Lowell Liebermann's Miss Lonelyhearts, Lorin Maazel's 1984 (with Thomas Meehan), and Elliot Goldenthal's Grendel (with Julie Taymor). He has also written a new singing translation of The Magic Flute, which debuted in January 2006 at the Metropolitan Opera. His libretti for operas soon to be premiered are The Secret Agent for Michael Dellaira and Little Nemo in Slumberland for Ned Rorem. He is a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
06/07