IU professor emeritus was pioneer in concrete poetry movement

Mary Ellen Solt, a poet and critic who left her mark on the world of poetry and IU, died June 21 at age 86.\nShe first took interest in poetry while studying at Iowa State Teacher’s College. Prior to discovering her love of poetry, Mary Ellen Solt had a passion for music and piano. In 1941, she finished her B.A. in English literature and started teaching.\nMarry Ellen Solt married Leo F. Solt on Dec. 22, 1946. She earned an M.A. in English literature from University of Iowa in 1948. When they lived in Massachusettes, the couple’s family grew from two to four with the birth of their daughters, Catherine and Susan.\nMary Ellen Solt first came to IU in 1955, when her husband was offered a teaching job here. In 1970, she became a faculty member in the department of comparative literature. Her work was not recognized by IU until after she made professional clout for herself, said Susan Solt, her youngest daughter. \nAs a poet she took interest in “concrete” poetry, a kind of poetry that recognizes the importance of the way words and letters are arranged on the page. Concrete poetry is visual, with the space around the words mattering as well as the words themselves. She took inspiration from William Carlos Williams and ee cummings, Susan Solt said. \nHer poems have been published in various books, magazines and anthologies around the world. They have also been on display in art galleries and museums, including the Jewish Museum in New York and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Her most popular poem was “Forsythia.” \nIn 1968, the IU Press published her anthology “Concrete Poetry: A World View.” Mary Ellen Solt selected all poems for the anthology herself and wrote all the essays.\n“It was the only anthology that contextualized concrete poetry and its world view. My mother was a real pioneer,” Susan Solt said.\nMary Ellen Solt first gained recognition in her career for her critical writing on the work of William Carlos Williams. The two poets were friends. Her controversial paper “William Carlos Williams: The American Idiom” won the Folio Prize for prose in 1960. She took particular interest in the work of William Carlos Williams and wrote many articles and essays concerning his work. William Carlos Williams wrote to Mary Ellen Solt on April 25, 1960, concerning her poem “With Child.” \nHe wrote, “Your absolute intellectual honesty hits me right between the eyes and you have an outstanding brain only equaled by your flagrant courage.” \nThe letter was published in the fall of 1987 in the William Carlos Williams Review.\n“She was always very much ahead of her time. She was a poet’s poet,” Susan said.\nMary Ellen Solt taught American poetry at the University of Warsaw in Poland in 1966. When she returned to Bloomington in 1977, she took a position at IU as director of the Polish Studies Center, a position she held until 1984. For her work at the center, Mary Ellen Solt was awarded the “Gold Badge of Order of Merit of the Polish Council of State” in 1981. The position allowed her to have more of an active role at IU through administration, Susan said.\n“She had a really multifaceted role to play at IU,” Susan Solt said. “She brought filmmakers and poets to campus; she had the spirit of Herman B Wells.”\nMary Ellen Solt retired as a professor emerita from IU in 1991. When her husband passed away in 1994, Mary Ellen Solt moved to Santa Clarita, Calif., to live with her daughter. After many years of declining health, Mary Ellen Solt died of a stroke June 21.\nMary Ellen Solt’s work is now held in the Lilly Library, maintaining IU as a center for concrete poetry. “It is an incredible legacy and that’s why she gave it to the IU Lilly Library,” Susan said.