2 Quotes & Sayings By George Oppen
George Oppen (1916-1998) was born in Queens, New York. He grew up in Brooklyn, where he attended public school and briefly worked as an apprentice millwright. During this period he began writing poetry, which led to his eventual decision to pursue a career as a writer. Oppen briefly attended the Pratt Institute before transferring to Columbia University, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1940
He then moved to Paris, where he studied with André Gide at the Sorbonne. Returning to America, Oppen received a Master’s degree at the University of Illinois in 1949.