Philip Schultz

Philip Schultz – Life, Career, and Famous Quotes

Philip Schultz (born 1945) is an American poet, memoirist, and teacher. He is best known for his Pulitzer Prize–winning collection Failure, as well as for founding The Writers Studio. Explore his life, struggles with dyslexia, poetic voice, and memorable insights.

Introduction

Philip Schultz, born January 6, 1945, in Rochester, New York, is one of the more compelling voices in contemporary American poetry.

His 2007 collection Failure won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, cementing his status in the American literary canon. But the arc of Schultz’s life is more than accolades: it is also a story of overcoming hidden obstacles, of teaching, of reimagining failure as material, and of giving voice to that which others might silence.

Early Life and Family

Philip Schultz was born to Samuel B. Schultz and Lillian (née Bernstein) Schultz in Rochester, New York.

As a boy, Schultz struggled with reading, writing, and basic school tasks — he later realized he had dyslexia.

His father ran a series of ill-fated business ventures, which ultimately left the family in financial difficulty. Schultz’s father’s struggles and eventual failures would become central thematic material in Schultz’s poetry.

Despite the obstacles, Schultz developed a love for stories, myth, and visual art. In his youth he drew cartoons, read voraciously (often slowly), and found solace in imagination.

Youth and Education

Schultz’s formal education included:

• Undergraduate studies at San Francisco State University, where he earned his B.A.

• Graduate work at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop (MFA)

Earlier, Schultz attended the University of Louisville (1963–65) before transferring to San Francisco State.

During his academic years, Schultz gradually turned away from fiction and toward poetry, drawn by its combination of intensity and precision.

Career and Achievements

Poetry & Major Works

Schultz’s poetry is deeply rooted in personal history — his upbringing, family relationships, the immigrant experience, Jewish identity, and the emotional terrain of failure and reconciliation.

His major collections include:

• Like Wings (1978) — his first major book, which earned him an American Academy & Institute of Arts and Letters Award and a National Book Award nomination.

• Deep Within the Ravine (1984) — winner of the Lamont Poetry Selection (Academy of American Poets) for best second book.

• The Holy Worm of Praise (2002)

• Living in the Past (2004)

• Failure (2007) — awarded the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

• The God of Loneliness: Selected and New Poems (2010)

• Luxury (2018)

• The Wherewithal: A Novel in Verse (2014) — a long poem / novel in verse format

In addition, Schultz has written memoirs: My Dyslexia (2011) — a personal account of living with language disability, and Comforts of the Abyss: The Art of Persona Writing (2022).

His poems have appeared in prominent magazines like The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Slate, Poetry Magazine, and many others.

Awards & Honors

Over his career, Schultz has received multiple prestigious awards:

• Pulitzer Prize for Failure (2008)

• Guggenheim Fellowship (2005)

• National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry (1981)

• New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship (1985)

• Levinson Prize from Poetry magazine

• Additional honors: American Academy & Institute of Arts and Letters award; Lamont Poetry Selection; etc.

Teaching, Mentoring & The Writers Studio

Beyond his own writing, Schultz invests deeply in the craft of others:

• He served as director of New York University’s graduate creative writing program in earlier years.

• In 1988 (or late 1980s), he founded The Writers Studio, a private school in New York City dedicated to teaching fiction and poetry.

• The Writers Studio’s teaching philosophy emphasizes learning by imitation of literary masters, focusing on bringing writers to the core subjects they feel compelled to write about.

• Schultz sees teaching and writing as deeply interwoven: lessons he teaches often clarify his own thinking, and guiding others offers insights into his own art.

Historical Milestones & Context

• Schultz’s rise came in a period when personal and confessional verse had deep currency, but his particular voice — combining frank emotional exposure with formal care — stood out.

• His battle with dyslexia, largely invisible at first, adds a dimension to his success that challenges traditional assumptions about literary talent and academic preparation.

• Winning the Pulitzer for Failure was especially resonant given the book’s thematic focus: turning failure — familial, personal, economic — into poetry.

• In recent years, Schultz’s establishment of a creative school has allowed him to extend influence not just through his own work, but by shaping a generation of writers.

Legacy and Influence

Philip Schultz’s legacy is multi-layered:

• As a poet, he has shown that vulnerability, even pain and uncertainty, can be central and powerful poetic material.

• His journey reinforces that “learning disabilities” or early struggle need not limit creative potential.

• Through The Writers Studio, he has shaped countless students, integrating pedagogy and practice.

• He also demonstrates how a poet can balance recognition (awards, prizes) with humility and commitment to art rather than celebrity.

His work is often included in anthologies and read in academic settings for both its emotional resonance and technical craft.

Personality and Talents

Schultz is known for emotional directness, clarity, and courage in exploring personal material.

His capacity for self-examination, for turning his father’s failures, for embracing anxiety and struggle, marks him as a poet of depth and compassion.

In interviews, Schultz emphasizes how the discipline of revision, close attention to language, and the struggle to give voice to what is painful or hidden are essential to his process.

Famous Quotes of Philip Schultz

While Schultz is less quoted than some public intellectuals, here are several memorable lines and passages from his works and interviews:

“Being given up on is a very peculiar feeling.”

“The anxiety you’re up against isn’t your fault.” (on writing and dyslexia)

In Failure:

“Failures are unforgettable.”

On his writing journey:

“I write mostly in my study, in my house … with my family still sleeping and my dog Penelope curled under the drab olive sofa.”

These lines reflect recurring themes: mortality, memory, struggle, and acceptance.

Lessons from Philip Schultz

1. Transform struggle into art. Schultz shows that obstacles like dyslexia or familial loss can deepen, not diminish, creative voice.

2. Writing is a process, not a gift. He repeatedly speaks of revision, patience, and confronting interior resistance.

3. Vulnerability is strength. His willingness to write about his father’s failures, his own anxieties, is part of what makes his work resonate.

4. Teaching refines your own voice. Schultz integrates his role as mentor with self-reflection and ongoing growth.

5. Failure is material, not shame. His Pulitzer-winning book Failure reframes failure as something to probe, mourn, and transmute into meaning.

Conclusion

Philip Schultz stands at an intersection: a poet whose personal struggle with dyslexia coexists with accomplishment; a teacher whose greatest legacy may be the writers he mentors; a voice that turns failure, memory, and loss into poems of luminous clarity.

In Failure and beyond, Schultz invites readers to sit with difficulty, to listen to what is unspeakable, and to find language for what many try to bury. His career testifies that the path of poetry is not about perfection — but about persistence, courage, and fidelity to one’s inner vision.