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.