Richard Stanley Allen (August 8, 1939 – December 26, 2017) was an American poet, literary critic and academic.
Early life
The son of Richard Sanders Allen, a writer and historian, and Doris (née Bishop), a postmaster, Allen was educated at the College of Liberal Arts at Syracuse University (A.B. 1961), then at the Brown University graduate school (M.A. 1964), and subsequently undertook two years of post-Masters work.
Career
Having been a teaching assistant at Brown whilst studying, he went on to teach creative writing and English literature at Wright State University from 1964-8, then the University of Bridgeport.[1] When he retired, he was the Charles A. Dana Endowed Chair Professor at the University of Bridgeport.
From July 1, 2010, through June 30, 2015, he served as Connecticut's poet laureate. During this time he wrote the poem "Solace" in remembrance of the victims of the shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, CT. This poem was subsequently set to music by the composer William Bolcom.[2]