born Oct. 24, 1923, Ilford, Essex, Eng.
died Dec. 20, 1997, Seattle, Wash., U.S.
English-born U.S. poet, essayist, and political activist.
Levertov became a civilian nurse during World War II. She married an American writer after the war and moved to the U.S., where she was associated with the Black Mountain group, which included the poets Charles Olson and Robert Duncan. Influenced by the deliberate simplicity of William Carlos Williams 's poetry, she wrote deceptively matter-of-fact verse on both personal and political themes. Among her poetry collections are Here and Now (1957), The Sorrow Dance (1967), and The Freeing of the Dust (1975).