230

JEB (Joan E. Biren)

1944-

Portrait of the poet and essayist Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), Montague, MA. 1981; printed 1987.

Silver print
With JEB's signature, title, and negative and print dates in ink on verso
the image 9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (24.1 x 19.1 cm.), the sheet slightly larger

  • Provenance: One of the most influential American poets of the 20th century, Adrienne Rich wrote of the female and lesbian experience during these decades in a way that was both powerful and radical. Her work explored identity, sexuality, and politics, evolving from a more formal and traditional approach in her first published collection in 1963 to work that can be described as freeform in both style and content. Rich wrote about herself and her identity as both a poet and essayist. In an autobiographical essay in 1982 she said "The experience of motherhood was eventually to radicalize me." Rich is best known for her politically-engaged material from the Vietnam War period. Her collection Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971-1972 (1973) won the National Book Award. Rich accepted it with fellow-nominees Audre Lorde and Alice Walker on behalf of all women. She won many other awards, but notably declined to accept the National Medal of Arts in 1997.

    Reproduced
    Joan E. Biren, Making A Way: Lesbians Out Front (Glad Hag Books, 1987)
  • Condition:
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