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 . . .
“Each open flower is an overthrow. Every instance of
birdsong decries the cruel suicides. In Joanna Rawson’s Unrest, nothing less than the entire world is at risk—risk of
catastrophe, risk of both hellish and heavenly transformations. With visionary
ardor, with devotional precision, Rawson is writing poetry addressed to our
deepest concerns.”
By Mark Slouka “To read Mark Slouka's essays is to see the
light at the end of the tunnel. Whether he is writing about where it is
between man and nature, or how it is between men and other men, he brings to
the page the wisdom of a gracious mind and the affection of a generous spirit.”
—LEWIS LAPHAM
By Mary Jo Bang “Bang proves in this sad…book, the conversion of grief
into art may be balanced, if not redeemed, by the transformation of art into
grieving.”
By Percival Everett 
By Joanna Rawson 
By Niall Griffiths 
By Mark Slouka 
By Mary Jo Bang 
"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."