Adrienne Rich facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Adrienne Rich
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Rich in 1980
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| Born | Adrienne Cecile Rich May 16, 1929 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | March 27, 2012 (aged 82) Santa Cruz, California, U.S. |
| Occupation |
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| Education | Radcliffe College |
| Genre | Poetry, non-fiction |
| Notable works | Diving Into the Wreck and The Trees |
| Notable awards | National Book Award 1974 Bollingen Prize 2003 Griffin Poetry Prize 2010 |
| Spouse |
Alfred Haskell Conrad
(m. 1953; died 1970) |
| Partner | Michelle Cliff (1976–2012) |
| Children | 3 |
Adrienne Cecile Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist, and a strong supporter of women's rights. She is known as one of the most important and widely read poets of the late 20th century. Rich helped bring attention to the challenges faced by women and girls in society through her writing.
She believed in the importance of strong connections and shared experiences among women. Her first poetry book, A Change of World, was chosen by the famous poet W. H. Auden for an award. Rich later famously turned down the National Medal of Arts. She did this to protest government decisions about funding for the arts.
Contents
Adrienne Rich: Early Life and Education
Adrienne Cecile Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on May 16, 1929. She was the older of two sisters. Her father, Arnold Rice Rich, was a well-known doctor who studied diseases. Her mother, Helen Elizabeth (Jones) Rich, was a talented concert pianist and composer.
Adrienne's father encouraged her to read and write poetry from a young age. She spent many hours in his library, reading works by famous writers. Her parents had high hopes for her, and she worked hard to meet their expectations. Adrienne and her younger sister were taught at home by their mother until Adrienne started public school in fourth grade.
Later, Rich attended Roland Park Country School, an all-girls school. She felt this school gave her good examples of strong, intelligent women. After high school, she went to Radcliffe College. There, she focused on poetry and learning how to write well.
In 1951, during her last year of college, her first poetry collection, A Change of World, won the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. W. H. Auden, a famous poet, selected her book and wrote its introduction. After graduating, Rich received a special scholarship to study in Europe. She chose to explore Italy and continued writing there.
Adrienne Rich's Early Career: 1953–1975
In 1953, Rich married Alfred Haskell Conrad, an economics professor. She wanted to start her own life and family. They lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and had three sons: David (born 1955), Pablo (born 1957), and Jacob (born 1959).
In 1955, she published her second book, The Diamond Cutters. Rich later felt this book was not her best work. She said she felt pressured to publish more poems quickly. That same year, she received an award from the Poetry Society of America.
The 1960s brought many changes for Rich. She received more awards and fellowships for her writing. In 1963, she published Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law. This book was much more personal and explored her identity as a woman, wife, and mother. It showed a big shift in her writing style and topics. Rich later said that becoming a mother greatly influenced her views.
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.
Diving into the Wreck: Poems 1971–1972 (1973)
In 1966, Rich moved her family to New York. She became very involved in social movements, including anti-war protests, civil rights, and women's rights. Her husband took a teaching job there. In 1968, she joined other writers in refusing to pay taxes to protest the Vietnam War. Her poetry collections from this time, like Necessities of Life (1966) and The Will to Change (1971), showed her growing interest in political topics.
Rich taught at several universities during this period, including Swarthmore College and Columbia University. She also taught in a special program at City College of New York. Rich and her husband often hosted events to support anti-war and civil rights groups. Their marriage faced challenges, and Rich moved out in 1970. Sadly, her husband died later that year.
In 1971, she received another award from the Poetry Society of America. She then taught at Brandeis University. Her 1974 collection, Diving into the Wreck, won the National Book Award for Poetry. Rich chose to accept the award not just for herself, but on behalf of all women. She was joined by two other nominated women poets, Alice Walker and Audre Lorde. They wanted to highlight the voices of women who had been ignored.
Adrienne Rich's Later Life: 1976–2012
From 1976 to 1979, Rich taught English at City College and Rutgers University. In 1979, she received an honorary degree from Smith College. She then moved with her partner, Michelle Cliff, to Montague, Massachusetts. Eventually, they settled in Santa Cruz, California. There, Rich continued her work as a professor, lecturer, poet, and essayist.
Rich and Cliff also became editors of Sinister Wisdom, a journal about arts and women's issues. Rich taught at various universities in California during the 1980s and 1990s. She published several more poetry collections, including Your Native Land, Your Life (1986) and Time's Power: Poems 1985–1988 (1989). She also received many awards for her poetry.
In 1977, Rich became involved with the Women's Institute for Freedom of the Press (WIFP). This organization works to improve communication among women and connect the public with women's media.
By the early 1980s, Rich began using canes and wheelchairs due to a health condition called rheumatoid arthritis. She had been diagnosed with it at age 22 but kept it private for many years. The colder climate in New England led Rich and Cliff to move to California.
In 1984, Rich gave an important speech in the Netherlands called Notes Toward a Politics of Location. In this speech, she talked about where women's ideas come from. She encouraged women to think about their own bodies and experiences as their starting point. Rich believed that understanding one's own background and location was key to understanding the world. She urged the women's movement to include many different voices and experiences. This essay was later published in her book Blood, Bread, and Poetry in 1986.
Rich also helped start Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends in 1990. This journal explored the connection between personal stories and public history, especially for Jewish women's rights. Her next book, An Atlas of the Difficult World (1991), won several awards.
In the 1990s, Rich joined advisory boards for various organizations. She believed that poetry could help people feel less alone. She felt it could show people their true selves and remind them of beauty and connection. In 1994, Rich received the MacArthur Fellowship, often called the "Genius Grant," for her work. She also became a grandmother in 1992.
There's a place between two stands of trees where the grass grows uphill
and the old revolutionary road breaks off into shadows
near a meeting-house abandoned by the persecuted
who disappeared into those shadows.
I've walked there picking mushrooms at the edge of dread, but don't be fooled
this isn't a Russian poem, this is not somewhere else but here,
our country moving closer to its own truth and dread,
its own ways of making people disappear.
In 1997, Rich again declined the National Medal of Arts. She did this to protest government policies regarding the arts. She believed that art should not just "decorate the dinner table of power." Her later books included both poetry and essays.
In the early 2000s, Rich took part in anti-war activities, speaking out against the war in Iraq. In 2002, she became a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets. She won the 2003 Yale Bollingen Prize for American Poetry. The judges praised her honesty, deep knowledge, and constant exploration in her poems. In 2006, Equality Forum honored Rich for her work on equality and human rights.
Adrienne Rich passed away on March 27, 2012, at age 82, in Santa Cruz, California. Her son said her death was due to her long-term rheumatoid arthritis. Her final poetry collection was published the year before she died. She was survived by her sons, two grandchildren, and her partner, Michelle Cliff.
Adrienne Rich's Views on Women's Rights
Adrienne Rich wrote many pieces that focused on the rights of women in society. In Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law, she looked closely at the lives of women as mothers and daughters-in-law. She explored how their gender affected their experiences.
Her book Diving Into the Wreck, written in the early 1970s, showed a more serious tone. In it, she openly expressed her anger at how society was set up to favor men. By doing so, she became an inspiration for other women. She hoped that continued efforts against unfair treatment would lead to change.
Rich's poems are also well-known for their focus on women's issues. One famous poem, "Power," is about Marie Curie, a very important female scientist. In this poem, Rich discussed power and women's strength. She referred to how Curie was slowly affected by the radiation from her research, which Rich saw as a source of her power. The poem explores the idea of power, especially from a woman's perspective.
Besides poems, Rich also wrote non-fiction books about women's issues. Some of these include Of Woman Born, Motherhood as Experience and Institution, and Blood, Bread and Poetry. Her works, interviews, and documentaries showed her deep understanding of women's rights and society.
Rich preferred the term "women's liberation" over "feminism." She thought "liberation" better described the idea of women becoming free from things that limited their rights. She also worried that "feminism" might become just a label without real meaning.
Rich also wrote about the need for different groups of women to work together. In Blood, Bread, and Poetry, she explained that her work on women's rights helped her understand her own biases. She believed that women who supported women's rights needed to recognize their own advantages. She urged them to work against unfair treatment of all women.
Rich's views on women's rights are clear in her writings. In Of Woman Born, she wrote that "we need to understand the power and powerlessness embodied in motherhood in patriarchal culture." She also spoke about the need for women to unite in her book On Lies, Secrets and Silence. In this book, she wrote: "Women have often felt insane when cleaving to the truth of our experience. Our future depends on the sanity of each of us, and we have a profound stake, beyond the personal, in the project of describing our reality as candidly and fully as we can to each other."
Considering the times she lived in (1950s–1970s), Rich's ideas about women's rights were groundbreaking. Her views on equality and helping women reach their full potential were very forward-thinking. She believed that society was built in a way that limited women's rights. For true equality, she felt that old ideas needed to change to include women's perspectives.
Adrienne Rich's Views on Fairness and Equality
Adrienne Rich wrote a lot about fairness and equality, especially within the women's rights movement. She often mentioned important Black women activists and thinkers in her work. In her book Blood, Bread, and Poetry, Rich dedicated several chapters to the topic of fairness.
She spoke about the advantages she had as a white writer. Rich wrote that she might be taken more seriously than a Black woman scholar. She believed this was because she was white, and that the lack of recognition for women of color was part of her own advantage.
In 1981, Rich gave a key speech at a convention about women's studies. She spoke about the unfairness that still existed within women's studies itself. Rich urged the audience to understand that working against unfairness was an ongoing process. She believed that white women must always work to challenge their own advantages and commit to fairness for everyone.
Selected Awards and Honors
- 1950: Yale Younger Poets Award for A Change of World
- 1952: Guggenheim Fellowship
- 1960: National Institute of Arts and Letters Award
- 1970: Shelley Memorial Award
- 1974: National Book Award for Poetry for Diving into the Wreck
- 1979: Honorary Doctorate Smith College
- 1986: Inaugural Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize
- 1989: Honorary doctorate from Harvard University
- 1989: National Poetry Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Art of Poetry
- 1990: Bill Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement
- 1991: Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service
- 1991: Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 1992: Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize
- 1992: Poets' Prize for Atlas of the Difficult World
- 1992: Frost Medal
- 1992: Academy of American Poets Fellowship
- 1994: MacArthur Fellowship
- 1996: Wallace Stevens Award
- 1997: National Medal of Arts (refused)
- 1999: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lannan Foundation
- 2006: National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters
- 2006: David R Kessler Award for studies on social equality, CLAGS: The Center for LGBTQ Studies
- 2010: Lifetime Recognition Award from the Griffin Poetry Prize
- 2017: Finalist, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (posthumous)
- 2019: In June 2019, Rich was honored as one of the first fifty American "pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes" on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor in New York City. This monument is dedicated to the history of equal rights.
See Also
In Spanish: Adrienne Rich para niños
- American philosophy
- List of American philosophers
Images for kids
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Rich in 1980
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Rich (right), with writers Audre Lorde (left) and Meridel Le Sueur (middle) in Austin, Texas, 1980
