William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) Tract, The Great Figure LINKS The Academy of American Poets - Poetry Exhibits: William Carlos Williams http://www.poets.org/lit/poet/wcwillia.htm This site contains a brief biography of Williams, a selected bibliography, the texts of several of his poems, and a list of links. BIOGRAPHY William Carlos Williams (1883–1963) Born in Rutherford, New Jersey, Williams graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (M.D., 1906), interned at hospitals in New York City for two years, studied pediatrics in Leipzig, then returned to practice medicine in his hometown. As a general practitioner, Williams found ample poetic inspiration in his patients, and scribbled down lines between appointments and on the way to house calls. His early collections include The Tempers (1913), Kora in Hell: Improvisations (1920), and Sour Grapes (1921). A stroke in the mid-1950s forced him to retire from his medical practice, but gave him more time to write. His many honors include the National Book Award (1950) and the Pulitzer Prize (1963). The Williams Reader was published in 1966.