Alumni

Dartmouth claims a number of prominent writers and poets over its history. A sampling includes:

• Hanover native Phillip E. Booth ’47, who, as a student at Dartmouth, studied under Frost. Booth published nine books of poetry in his lifetime, including Letters from a Distinct Land and Lifelines: Selected Poems, which won the 2001 Poets Prize. Booth's honors include Guggenheim, Rockefeller, and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and the Theodore Roethke Prize. In 1983 he was elected a Fellow of The Academy of American Poets.
• Louise Erdrich ’76, the author of twelve novels as well as volumes of poetry, children's books, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her debut novel, Love Medicine, won the National Book Critics Circle Award. The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse was a finalist for the National Book Award.
• Theodor S. Geisel ’25, better known to the world as “Dr. Seuss.” Geisel was the author and illustrator of 44 children's books, including such all-time favorites as Green Eggs and Ham, Oh, the Places You'll Go, Fox in Socks, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His books had been translated into more than 15 languages, and over 200 million copies have been sold. Besides the books, his works have provided the source for eleven children's television specials, a Broadway musical and a feature-length motion picture. His honors included two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.
• Stephen Geller ’62, screenwriter, author, and playwright. He is perhaps best known for his film adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. Geller has worked in the film industry in Hollywood, Europe, and recently directed his own independent feature, Mother's Little Helpers.
• Budd Shulberg ’36, screenwriter, novelist, and sports writer. The son of a former head of Paramount Pictures, Schulberg is best known for his 1941 novel, What Makes Sammy Run, his 1947 novel The Harder They Fall, his 1954 Academy Award-winning screenplay for On the Waterfront, and his 1957 screenplay A Face in the Crowd.

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