John Berryman

John Berryman, a modern American poet, led a life punctuated by brilliant creativity and emotional turbulence. He was haunted by the demons of his father’s suicide, which occurred while still a boy, and a tumultuous relationship with his mother. He chartered a successful career in academia, but always struggled with alcohol abuse, attempted suicides and frequent hospitalizations. Berryman was a man who knew the wild mixture of high mania and low depression; a man who had bipolar disorder. View Berryman's Biosketch