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Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Death / Books Adrienne Rich

Posted by on Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 4:32 PM

The influential poet and essayist has died. She was 82. I like this bit from her short obituary at the Jacket Copy blog:

Selected for the National Medal for the Arts in 1997, the highest award given to artists, Rich refused it.

“The radical disparities of wealth and power in America are widening at a devastating rate,” she wrote in a letter addressed to then-President Clinton. “A president cannot meaningfully honor certain token artists while the people at large are so dishonored.”

Tell me she wasn't ahead of the curve. If you'd like a crash course in why April's National Poetry Month will now pretty much be dedicated to Rich, you should check out her Poets.org's profile page. where you can find samples of her work. This is not one of her prettier poems, but it gives you an idea of her writing: Passionate, challenging, and highly intelligent.

 

Comments (3) RSS

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merry 1
Oh no. I didn't realize she was already in her 80's...

RIP Ms Rich, your legacy will live on...
Posted by merry on March 28, 2012 at 4:54 PM
stinkbug 2
NYT: http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=9320…
Posted by stinkbug on March 28, 2012 at 5:41 PM
3
That's a pretty good poem you've linked. I'd heard of her from those hodgepodge literature anthologies, but I assumed she had died years ago.
Posted by floater on March 29, 2012 at 1:13 AM

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