Demystifying the “Poet Laureate of Depression” Pleasure-loving,
sarcastic, stubborn, determined, erotic, deeply sad--Jane
Kenyon’s complexity and contradictions found expression in
luminous poems that continue to attract a passionate following.
Dana Greene draws on a wealth of personal correspondence and other
newly available materials to delve into the origins, achievement,
and legacy of Kenyon’s poetry and separate the artist’s life
story from that of her husband, the award-winning poet Donald Hall.
Impacted by relatives’ depression during her isolated childhood,
Kenyon found poetry at college, where writers like Robert Bly
encouraged her development. Her graduate school marriage to the
middle-aged Hall and subsequent move to New Hampshire had an
enormous impact on her life, moods, and creativity. Immersed in
poetry, Kenyon wrote about women’s lives, nature, death, mystical
experiences, and melancholy--becoming, in her own words, an
“advocate of the inner life.” Her breakthrough in the 1980s
brought acclaim as “a born poet” and appearances in the New
Yorker and elsewhere. Yet her ongoing success and artistic growth
exacerbated strains in her marriage and failed to stave off
depressive episodes that sometimes left her non-functional.
Refusing to live out the stereotype of the mad woman poet, Kenyon
sought treatment and confronted her illness in her work and in
public while redoubling her personal dedication to finding pleasure
in every fleeting moment. Prestigious fellowships, high-profile
events, residencies, and media interviews had propelled her career
to new heights when leukemia cut her life short and left her
husband the loving but flawed curator of her memory and legacy.
Revelatory and insightful, Jane Kenyon offers the first full-length
biography of the elusive poet and the unquiet life that shaped her
art.
General
Imprint: |
University of Illinois Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2023 |
Firstpublished: |
2023 |
Authors: |
Dana Greene
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152mm (L x W) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
224 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-252-04538-7 |
Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-252-04538-6 |
Barcode: |
9780252045387 |
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