Hannah Weiner facts for kids

Hannah Adelle Weiner (born Finegold) (November 4, 1928 – September 11, 1997) was an American poet. She is often linked with a group called the Language poets. This is because her unique writing style was very important to their ideas about poetry.

Early Life and Creative Beginnings

Hannah Weiner was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She went to Classical High School until 1946. After that, she attended Radcliffe College. She earned her college degree in 1950. Her main project was about the writer Henry James. After college, she worked in publishing. She also worked at the Bloomingdale's department store. She was married for four years before getting divorced.

Weiner started writing poetry in 1963. Her first small book of poems, called The Magritte Poems, came out in 1970. These poems were inspired by the artist René Magritte. However, this early work was different from her later, more famous poems. It was "a New York School attempt to write verse in response to the paintings of René Magritte."

Art and Performance in New York

During the 1960s, Weiner lived in New York City. She became very active in the city's art scene. She helped organize and took part in many "happenings." These were special art events that combined different forms of art. One event was 'Hannah Weiner at Her Job'. It was an open house at her employer's office. Another was the 'Fashion Show Poetry Event'. She worked with artists like Eduardo Costa and Andy Warhol. This event mixed conceptual art, design, poetry, and performance.

Weiner also created poems using special communication methods. She used flag semaphore, which is a way to signal with flags. She also used the International Code of Signals. This is a system of flags and lights used by ships. One famous work was "R+J," a version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In 1968, off-duty U.S. Coast Guard signalers performed these works. They did this in Central Park in New York City.

In the late 1960s, Weiner's poems appeared in 0 to 9 magazine. This was an experimental magazine. It explored new ideas about language and how we make meaning.

Unique Writing Style

In the early 1970s, Weiner began writing a series of journals. These journals were partly based on "automatic writing." This is a technique where you write without consciously thinking. It's like letting your hand move freely. Her writing was also influenced by her experience of seeing words and phrases.

Judith Goldman, a writer, explained Weiner's unique style. Weiner developed a way of writing called "clair-style." This style used "words and phrases clairvoyantly seen." Weiner focused on using only these "seen elements" in her poems. Goldman noted that Weiner always shared her status as someone who "saw" words. This was a central part of her identity as a poet.

Influence and Activism

Hannah Weiner had a big impact on the Language poets. Her work was included in In the American Tree. This was an important collection of Language poetry. It was put together by Ron Silliman.

Starting with her books Little Books/Indians (1980) and Spoke (1984), Weiner's writing focused on Native American issues. She was especially interested in the American Indian Movement. This movement worked for Native American rights. She also wrote about the case of Leonard Peltier, an imprisoned activist.

Lasting Impact

People are still very interested in Hannah Weiner's work today. A book called Hannah Weiner’s Open House was published in 2007. This book includes a good selection of her poems from many years. Patrick F. Durgin edited this book. He also wrote about Weiner's art.

Durgin explained that Weiner's influence started in the 1960s. She was part of a group of artists in New York. This group included poets, performers, and visual artists. Some of them were Philip Glass, Andy Warhol, and Carolee Schneemann. Like her friend Jackson Mac Low, she became important to the Language poetry movement. This happened in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, her influence can be seen in new writing styles.

Her work is now studied by experts in different fields. These include feminist studies, poetry, and disability studies. Hannah Weiner’s Open House helps by sharing many of her poems. These include performance texts and early lyric poems. It also has poems dedicated to Mac Low and Ted Berrigan. And it features her later "clair-style" works.

In 2016, Weiner's "Code Poems" were honored. A Public Art Fund exhibition featured them. This was held outside New York City Hall. In 2019, her code poem "R+J" was performed again. This happened in Central Park, 50 years after its first performance.