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Adrienne Rich

アドリエン・セシル・リッチ

Adrienne Cecile Rich

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1929-05-16 （Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.）
Died
2012-03-27 （Santa Cruz, California, U.S.） age 82
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Christianity
Residence History
Baltimore (birthplace) → Cambridge, Massachusetts → New York, New York → Montague, Massachusetts → Santa Cruz, California

Career

Occupations
poet, essayist, non-fiction writer, educator
Active Years
1950-2012
Affiliations
Swarthmore College (lecturer), Columbia University School of the Arts (adjunct), City College of New York (SEEK program instructor), Rutgers University (English faculty), UC Santa Cruz (lecturer), Bryn Mawr College (Lucy Martin Donnelly Fellow), Academy of American Poets (chancellor)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow), Academy of American Poets (Chancellor)
Influenced By
W. H. Auden, Arnold Rice Rich (early literary influence via family library), Classical and Romantic poets (Keats, Blake, etc.)
Influenced
Audre Lorde (mutual influence), Alice Walker, Subsequent feminist and queer poets

Education

Radcliffe College (Harvard University)
Literature / Poetry
Degree: BA
Period: 1946–1951
Year of Graduation: 1951
Country: United States
Her collection A Change of World was selected by W. H. Auden while she was a senior. Received a Guggenheim Fellowship to study in Oxford after graduation.

Awards

Yale Younger Poets Award
1951
Work: A Change of World
Organization: Yale University Press
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Poetry (split award)
1974
Work: Diving into the Wreck
Category: 詩
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞（共同）
MacArthur Fellowship
1994
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
Bollingen Prize for American Poetry
2003
Organization: Yale / Bollingen Foundation
Result: 受賞
Griffin Poetry Prize (Lifetime Recognition)
2010
Organization: Griffin Poetry Prize Foundation
Result: 受賞（生涯功労）
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize (inaugural)
1986
Organization: Ruth Lilly Foundation
Result: 受賞
MacArthur Fellowship
1994
Organization: MacArthur Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Medal of Arts
1997
Organization: National Endowment for the Arts / U.S. government
Result: 辞退（受賞を拒否）
Lannan Lifetime Achievement Award
1999
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
Poets' Prize
1992
Work: An Atlas of the Difficult World
Organization: Poets' Prize
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

A Change of World

1951 Poetry collection 48 pages

Her first collection of poems, selected by W. H. Auden for the Yale Younger Poets series; introductory work establishing her early voice.

coming of agepersonal memoryformal poetics

Diving into the Wreck

1973 Poetry collection (political / feminist themes) 64 pages

A landmark collection exploring feminism, identity, and historical recovery; split winner of the 1974 National Book Award for Poetry.

feminismself and historypower and oppression
Translations
  • various translations

The Dream of a Common Language

1978 Poetry collection 96 pages

A collection addressing lesbian love, solidarity among women, and the intertwining of political and personal themes.

desiresolidaritythe lesbian continuum

An Atlas of the Difficult World

1991 Poetry collection with political essays 128 pages

A collection that interweaves social and political concerns with personal history; recipient of several awards in 1991.

public memorysocial justiceindividual and community

Bibliography

  • A Change of World (1951)
  • The Diamond Cutters and Other Poems (1955)
  • Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law (1963)
  • Diving into the Wreck (1973)
  • The Dream of a Common Language (1978)
  • Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (1976)
  • Blood, Bread, and Poetry: Selected Prose (1986)
  • An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991)
  • Collected Poems 1950–2012 (2016, posthumous compilation)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
political and direct voiceblend of lyricism and prose/argumentpoetry rooted in feminist theory
Recurring Motifs
motherhood and maternal experiencethe body and politics of locationself-critique of white feminismsolidarity and community

Health

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
    22歳で診断、以後生涯にわたって影響（特に1980年代以降）
    Led to use of canes and wheelchairs, mobility limitations; underwent spinal operation requiring a metal halo around 1992.

Legacy

One of the leading figures in modern American poetry; significant influence on feminist and queer theory in poetry and on politically engaged poetics. Helped bring women's voices into public literary discourse.

Museums

  • Schlesinger Library (holds Adrienne Rich papers) Cambridge, Massachusetts (Radcliffe Institute / Harvard)

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Academy of American Poets

Archives

  • Schlesinger Library (Radcliffe Institute)
  • Library of Congress (authority records and holdings)

In Popular Culture

  • Included on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor at the Stonewall National Monument (2019) as a pioneer and honoree

Quotes

  • We are, I am, you are by cowardice or courage the one who find our way back to this scene carrying a knife, a camera a book of myths in which our names do not appear.
    Source: From the poem 'Diving into the Wreck' (Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971–1972) (1973)

Trivia

  • Declined the National Medal of Arts in 1997 in protest of political decisions regarding arts funding.
  • Actively involved in anti-war, civil rights, and feminist activism from the 1960s onward.
  • Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at age 22 and lived with its effects throughout her life.