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Dorothea Tanning (1910-2012)
February 1, 2012
—It is with profound sadness that we announce that brilliant poet and visual artist Dorothea Tanning, author of A Table of Content and Coming to That, passed away in her sleep last night. She was 101 years old.
"All of us at Graywolf Press note with sadness the death of Dorothea Tanning," said senior editor Jeffrey Shotts. "We are honored to have published her two poetry books, the first of which was published when she was 94 and the second of which was published just last fall when she turned 101. As she herself remarked, with her usual wry self-awareness, she was 'the oldest emerging poet.' The fact that she could have such an illustrious career as a visual artist and, so late in that career, then turn to poetry with such forceful craft and signature imagination is a triumph of her unparalleled vision and indomitable spirit. Working with her over two books has been one of the greatest delights of my career as an editor. Knowing her these last ten years will remain one of the signposts of my life. She is missed."
ARTIST, ONCE
That was in a room for rent.
It had a window and a bed,
it was enough for dreaming,
for stunning facts like being
at last, and undeniably
in NYC, enough to hold
enfolded as in pregnancy,
those not-yet-painted works
to be. They, hanging fire,
slow to come—to come
out—being deep inside her,
oozing metamorphosis
in her warm dark, took
their time and promised.
Fast forward. Trapped in now,
she's not all that sure.
Compared to what entwined
her mind before the test,
before the raw achievement
pat, secure—oh, such bounty
to be lived, yet untasted,
undefined—all the rest . . .
"Artist, Once" from Coming to That. Copyright © 2011 by Dorothea Tanning.
Photo © Sylvia Plachy, 2010.
Upcoming Events
Mon, Feb 6th, @7:30pmBenjamin Percy reading as part of the PEN/Faulkner Reading Series at Folger Elizabethan Theatre (Washington D.C.) Author: Benjamin Percy >>Book: Wilding >>
Wed, Feb 8th, @7:00pmElizabeth Alexander reading at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN) Author: Elizabeth Alexander >>Book: Crave Radiance >>
Thu, Feb 9th, @7:30pmAlbert Goldbarth reading as part of the Seattle Arts & Lectures Series at Benaroya Hall (Seattle, WA) Author: Albert Goldbarth >>Book: Everyday People >>
Thu, Feb 9th, @4:00pmJeffrey Yang reading at Dartmouth University (Hanover, NH) Author: Jeffrey Yang >>Book: Vanishing-Line >>
Sat, Feb 11th, @7:00pmTess Gallagher reading at Village Books (Bellingham, WA) Author: Tess Gallagher >>Book: Midnight Lantern >>
More books from Graywolf Press:
By Dorothea Tanning "Dorothea Tanning's verbal wizardry is a constant surprise, an abiding
delight, and readers who sit down to A Table of Content can expect to
stand up more strangely themselves. She wears her soul on her sleeve,
and it shines, it shines!" —J. D. McClatchy
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By John Haines "Written chiefly from time living in the Alaskan heartland, the
frontier of elements, weather, and survival figure prominently in these
poems. This is a collection of poetry that transcends its pages." —Harvard Review
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By Belle Boggs
"Belle Boggs infuses these stories of sometimes hardscrabble, dreams-deferred lives with a finely crafted, absolutely confident elegance. Boggs is a writer who knows how deep and how hard we can love and live. Her characters are too real to ever forget."
—MARITA GOLDEN, author of the novel AFTER
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By Barbara Dimmick "Wonderfully engrossing and haunting...a timely look at violence,
pathology, and the intersection of survival and redemption. Highly
recommended." —Library Journal, starred review
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By Mary Jane Nealon
“Pay attention to
[Mary Jane] Nealon—she’s a keeper. . . . I desperately wish skilled poets
like Nealon wrote at least half of all memoirs. This is to be savored. There are mediations on life, death,
leaving, returning, growing, healing; I will reread it.”—Library Journal,
starred review
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