W.D. Snodgrass, a founding figure of the "confessional" school of poetry, whose tightly controlled autobiographical verse exerted a powerful influence on other writers, died Jan. 13 of lung cancer at his farmhouse near Erieville, N.Y. He was 83.

Snodgrass found early success, winning a Pulitzer Prize for his first book of poetry, "Heart's Needle," published in 1959.

Veronika Dudarova, who led Moscow orchestras for 60 years, has died. She was 92.

From 1991 until the end of her life, she conducted the Symphony Orchestra of Russia, which she founded.

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