Marilyn Hacker Knihy

Collecting a quarter century's work by one of the most elegant and pertinent poets working in English today.

The narrative weaves through the writer's life across various decades and cities, particularly Paris and New York, emphasizing the importance of awareness in prompting action. By reflecting on personal experiences and historical contexts, it invites readers to recognize the connections between their surroundings and their choices. The interplay of time and place enriches the exploration of themes related to observation and engagement with the world.

Exploring the complex themes of identity both at home and in travel, this collection delves into artistic citizenship through essays on notable figures in literature and poetry. It highlights the works and contributions of legendary poet Adrienne Rich, alongside discussions of influential writers such as Phillis Wheatley, Tony Harrison, June Jordan, Joan Schenkar, Fady Joudah, and Wanda Coleman, offering a rich tapestry of voices and perspectives on the intersection of art and personal identity.

A bilingual collection of poetry, from elegies to poem memoirs, by a revered French master. For more than four decades Claire Malroux has blazed a unique path in contemporary French poetry. She is influenced by such French poets as Mallarmé and Yves Bonnefoy, but her work also bears the mark, and this is unusual in France, of Anglophone poets like Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, and Derek Walcott. A prominent translator of poetry from English into French, Malroux is one of those rare poets whose work is informed by a day-to-day intimacy with a second language in its greatest variations and subtleties. Her poems move between an intense but philosophical and abstract interiority and an acute engagement with the material world. This bilingual selection by the award-winning poet and translator Marilyn Hacker presents Malroux’s oeuvre, from her early lyric poems to an excerpt from A Long-Gone Sun—a poem-memoir of life in southern France before and during World War II—to new and uncollected poems, including an elegiac sequence written after the death of her life partner, the writer Pierre Silvain.

Stunning new work by this inimitable French master

The collaborative poem by celebrated poets Marilyn Hacker and Karthika Naèir explores the themes of friendship, stillness, and grief over the course of a year. Through their intertwined voices, they reflect on shared experiences and emotions, creating a poignant narrative that captures the complexities of connection and loss.

This critically acclaimed sonnet sequence is the passionately intense story of a love affair between two women, from the electricity of their first acquaintance to the experience of their parting.

Marilyn Hacker's poetry captures the rawness of human experience while skillfully transforming form, creating a unique voice that resonates with intimacy and beauty. Her work is characterized by an intense emotional depth and authoritative expression, making each poem a powerful exploration of personal and universal themes. W. S. Merwin highlights the remarkable interplay between experience and form in her writing, showcasing her ability to evoke profound connections through her craft.

Exploring themes of life and death in a tumultuous era, this volume by Marilyn Hacker offers a profound reflection on the human condition at the close of a century marked by violence and loss. Through her distinctive voice, Hacker enriches the feminist and lesbian literary canon, addressing the complexities of existence and identity in a world grappling with its darkest moments.

The narrative weaves through different eras and locations, contrasting the vibrant cultures of Paris and New York from the 1940s to the 1990s. It emphasizes the importance of awareness in prompting action, capturing the essence of the writer's experiences and reflections. Through this journey, the book invites readers to appreciate the subtleties of life and the spaces that shape our actions and thoughts.