Biography
1929 - 2012
“False history gets made all day, any day; the truth of the new is never on the news.”
– Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich’s first collection, Change of World, was released in 1951. In the 60 years that followed Rich continued to write; transforming her life and work to become one of the most influential poets of her time. She is recognized for bringing the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront in poetry and keeping it there. Married in 1953, Rich settled with her husband in Cambridge and had three sons. In 1963 her writing became more personal with Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law, which examined her female identity. Moving to New York in the mid-1960s, Rich’s heavy involvement in the anti-war, civil rights, and feminist movements was mirrored in her increasingly confrontational work. She separated from her husband in 1970, who later died by suicide. In 1974 she won the National Book Award for her exploratory collection Diving into the Wreck – often considered her masterwork. Rich accepted the honor on behalf of all women and shared it with co-nominees Alice Walker and Audre Lorde. In 1976 Rich began a long-term relationship with writer Michelle Cliff. It was with Twenty-One Love Poems (1977) and later Dream of a Common Language (1978) that she began her poetic treatment lesbian desire and sexuality. It soon became a prominent theme in her essays as well, such as ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’ from Blood, Bread, and Poetry (1986). Her two dozen collections of poetry and more than half dozen books of non-fiction prose include Of Woman Born (1976), On Lies, Secrets, and Silence (1979), A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far (1981), and An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991). Her numerous awards and honors include Honorary Doctorates from Smith and Harvard, the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Frost Medal, the Poet’s Prize, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Rich died on March 27, 2012 at her home in Santa Cruz, California at the age of 82.
1929 - 2012
“False history gets made all day, any day; the truth of the new is never on the news.”
– Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Rich’s first collection, Change of World, was released in 1951. In the 60 years that followed Rich continued to write; transforming her life and work to become one of the most influential poets of her time. She is recognized for bringing the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront in poetry and keeping it there. Married in 1953, Rich settled with her husband in Cambridge and had three sons. In 1963 her writing became more personal with Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law, which examined her female identity. Moving to New York in the mid-1960s, Rich’s heavy involvement in the anti-war, civil rights, and feminist movements was mirrored in her increasingly confrontational work. She separated from her husband in 1970, who later died by suicide. In 1974 she won the National Book Award for her exploratory collection Diving into the Wreck – often considered her masterwork. Rich accepted the honor on behalf of all women and shared it with co-nominees Alice Walker and Audre Lorde. In 1976 Rich began a long-term relationship with writer Michelle Cliff. It was with Twenty-One Love Poems (1977) and later Dream of a Common Language (1978) that she began her poetic treatment lesbian desire and sexuality. It soon became a prominent theme in her essays as well, such as ‘Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence’ from Blood, Bread, and Poetry (1986). Her two dozen collections of poetry and more than half dozen books of non-fiction prose include Of Woman Born (1976), On Lies, Secrets, and Silence (1979), A Wild Patience Has Taken Me This Far (1981), and An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991). Her numerous awards and honors include Honorary Doctorates from Smith and Harvard, the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Frost Medal, the Poet’s Prize, and the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. Rich died on March 27, 2012 at her home in Santa Cruz, California at the age of 82.
Demography
Demography
Gender Female
Sexual Orientation Lesbian
Gender Identity Cisgender
Ethnicity Caucasian/White Jewish
Faith Construct Judaic
Nations Affiliated United States
Era/Epoch Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) Information Age (1970-present) Post-Stonewall Era (1974-1980) Second-wave Feminism (1960-1990)
Field(s) of Contribution
Academics
Author
Poet
Social Justice
Commemorations & Honors
Guggenheim Fellowship (1952)
National Institute of Arts and Letters Award (1960)
National Book Award Winner For Poetry- Diving into the Wreck (1974)
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Associate (1977)
Honorary Doctorate Smith College (1979)
Inaugural Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1986)
Honorary Doctorate Harvard University (1989)
National Poetry Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Art of Poetry (1989)
Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement For LGBT Writing (1990)
Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service (1991)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow (1991)
Frost Medal (1992)
Academy of American Poets Fellowship (1992)
MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant (1994)
National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (2006)
National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument Inductee (2019)
Demography
Gender Female
Sexual Orientation Lesbian
Gender Identity Cisgender
Ethnicity Caucasian/White Jewish
Faith Construct Judaic
Nations Affiliated United States
Era/Epoch Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968) Information Age (1970-present) Post-Stonewall Era (1974-1980) Second-wave Feminism (1960-1990)
Field(s) of Contribution
Academics
Author
Poet
Social Justice
Commemorations & Honors
Guggenheim Fellowship (1952)
National Institute of Arts and Letters Award (1960)
National Book Award Winner For Poetry- Diving into the Wreck (1974)
Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press Associate (1977)
Honorary Doctorate Smith College (1979)
Inaugural Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (1986)
Honorary Doctorate Harvard University (1989)
National Poetry Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Art of Poetry (1989)
Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement For LGBT Writing (1990)
Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service (1991)
American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellow (1991)
Frost Medal (1992)
Academy of American Poets Fellowship (1992)
MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant (1994)
National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters (2006)
National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument Inductee (2019)
Resources
Resources
Alkalay-Gut, Karen. "The Lesbian Imperative in Poetry." Contemporary Review 24 (1983): 209-211.
Bennett, Paula. My Life a Loaded Gun: Female Creativity and Feminist Poetics. Boston: Beacon, 1986; rpt. My Life a Loaded Gun: Dickinson, Plath, Rich and Female Creativity. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990.
Bulkin, Elly. "An Interview with Adrienne Rich." Conditions: One: A Magazine of Writing by Women with an Emphasis on Writing by Lesbians 1.1 (April 1977); and "An Interview with Adrienne Rich." Conditions: Two 1.2 (October 1977).
Carruthers, Mary J. "The Re-Vision of the Muse: Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Judy Grahn, Olga Broumas." The Hudson Review 36.2 (Summer 1983): 293-322.
Cooper, Jane Roberta, ed. Reading Adrienne Rich: Reviews and Re-Visions, 1951-1981. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984.
DeShazer, Mary K. Inspiring Women: Reimagining the Muse. New York: Pergamon Press, 1986.
Diehl, Joanne Feit. Women Poets and the American Sublime. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
DuPlessis, Rachel Blau. "The Critique of Consciousness and Myth in Levertov, Rich and Rukeyser." Feminist Studies 3.1-2 (1975): 199-221.
Erkkila, Betsy. The Wicked Sisters: Women Poets, Literary History & Discord. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Farwell, Marilyn R. "Adrienne Rich and an Organic Feminist Criticism." College English 39.2 (1977): 191-203.
Ferguson, Ann, Jaquelyn N. Zita, and Kathryn Pyne Addelson. "Viewpoint: On 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence': Defining the Issues." Signs 7.1 (Autumn 1981): 158-199.
Friedman, Susan Stanford. "'I Go Where I Love': An Intertextual Study of H.D. and Adrienne Rich." Signs 9.2 (Winter 1983): 228-245.
Gelpi, Barbara Charlesworth, and Albert Gelpi, eds. Adrienne Rich's Poetry: Texts of the Poems; The Poet on Her Work; Reviews and Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1975.
Hedley, Jane. "Surviving to Speak New Language: Mary Daly and Adrienne Rich." Hypatia 7.2 (Spring 1992): 40-62.
Kalstone, David. Five Temperaments: Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, James Merrill, Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
McDaniel, Judith. Reconstructing the World: The Poetry and Visions of Adrienne Rich. Argyle, N.Y.: Spinsters Ink, 1979.
Ostriker, Alicia. "Her Cargo: Adrienne Rich and the Common Language." American Poetry Review 6.4 (1979): 6-10; rpt. Writing Like a Woman. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1983.
Schwarz, Judith. "Questionnaire on Issues in Lesbian History." Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies 4.3 (1979): 1-12.
Stimpson, Catharine. "Adrienne Rich and Lesbian/Feminst Poetry." Parnassus: Poetry in Review 12-13 (1985): 249-268.
Strine, Mary S. "The Politics of Asking Women's Questions: Voice and Value in the Poetry of Adrienne Rich." Text and Performance Quarterly 9.1 (January 1989): 24-41.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Rich
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/adrienne-rich
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/books/adrienne-rich-feminist-poet-and-author-dies-at-82.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adrienne-Rich
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jun/15/featuresreviews.guardianreview6
https://newrepublic.com/article/132117/adrienne-richs-feminist-awakening
Resources
Alkalay-Gut, Karen. "The Lesbian Imperative in Poetry." Contemporary Review 24 (1983): 209-211.
Bennett, Paula. My Life a Loaded Gun: Female Creativity and Feminist Poetics. Boston: Beacon, 1986; rpt. My Life a Loaded Gun: Dickinson, Plath, Rich and Female Creativity. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990.
Bulkin, Elly. "An Interview with Adrienne Rich." Conditions: One: A Magazine of Writing by Women with an Emphasis on Writing by Lesbians 1.1 (April 1977); and "An Interview with Adrienne Rich." Conditions: Two 1.2 (October 1977).
Carruthers, Mary J. "The Re-Vision of the Muse: Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Judy Grahn, Olga Broumas." The Hudson Review 36.2 (Summer 1983): 293-322.
Cooper, Jane Roberta, ed. Reading Adrienne Rich: Reviews and Re-Visions, 1951-1981. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1984.
DeShazer, Mary K. Inspiring Women: Reimagining the Muse. New York: Pergamon Press, 1986.
Diehl, Joanne Feit. Women Poets and the American Sublime. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
DuPlessis, Rachel Blau. "The Critique of Consciousness and Myth in Levertov, Rich and Rukeyser." Feminist Studies 3.1-2 (1975): 199-221.
Erkkila, Betsy. The Wicked Sisters: Women Poets, Literary History & Discord. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.
Farwell, Marilyn R. "Adrienne Rich and an Organic Feminist Criticism." College English 39.2 (1977): 191-203.
Ferguson, Ann, Jaquelyn N. Zita, and Kathryn Pyne Addelson. "Viewpoint: On 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence': Defining the Issues." Signs 7.1 (Autumn 1981): 158-199.
Friedman, Susan Stanford. "'I Go Where I Love': An Intertextual Study of H.D. and Adrienne Rich." Signs 9.2 (Winter 1983): 228-245.
Gelpi, Barbara Charlesworth, and Albert Gelpi, eds. Adrienne Rich's Poetry: Texts of the Poems; The Poet on Her Work; Reviews and Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton, 1975.
Hedley, Jane. "Surviving to Speak New Language: Mary Daly and Adrienne Rich." Hypatia 7.2 (Spring 1992): 40-62.
Kalstone, David. Five Temperaments: Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Lowell, James Merrill, Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
McDaniel, Judith. Reconstructing the World: The Poetry and Visions of Adrienne Rich. Argyle, N.Y.: Spinsters Ink, 1979.
Ostriker, Alicia. "Her Cargo: Adrienne Rich and the Common Language." American Poetry Review 6.4 (1979): 6-10; rpt. Writing Like a Woman. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1983.
Schwarz, Judith. "Questionnaire on Issues in Lesbian History." Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies 4.3 (1979): 1-12.
Stimpson, Catharine. "Adrienne Rich and Lesbian/Feminst Poetry." Parnassus: Poetry in Review 12-13 (1985): 249-268.
Strine, Mary S. "The Politics of Asking Women's Questions: Voice and Value in the Poetry of Adrienne Rich." Text and Performance Quarterly 9.1 (January 1989): 24-41.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Rich
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/adrienne-rich
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/29/books/adrienne-rich-feminist-poet-and-author-dies-at-82.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adrienne-Rich
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jun/15/featuresreviews.guardianreview6
https://newrepublic.com/article/132117/adrienne-richs-feminist-awakening