Ruth Whitman Biography

Ruth Whitman (1922–1999) was an American poet, translator, and professor. Her eighth and last book is Hatshepshut, Speak to me (Wayne State University Press, 1992), and her most well-known and well-regarded is Tamsen Donner: A Woman’s Journey (Alice James Books, 1977). She also translated poetry from Yiddish, and wrote the beloved poem Sisters. Her honors and awards include a Senior Fulbright Writer-in-Residence Fellowship to Hebrew University in Jerusalem, a Bunting Institute Fellowship, and a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship. Her poems were published in literary journals and magazines including AGNI and Ploughshares. She was an early cooperative member of Alice James Books, and was the poetry editor for Radcliffe Quarterly from 1980 - 1995.