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Line 7: \| image_size = \| alt = \| caption = ~~Muriel~~ Rukeyser in 1945 \| native_name = \| native_name_lang = Line 17: \| death_place = New York City \| resting_place = \| occupation = poet, essayist, biographer, screenwriter, novelist, critic \| nationality = \| citizenship = American \| education = Ethical Culture Fieldston \| alma_mater = Vassar College, Columbia University \| period = \| genre = \| subject = equality, feminism, motherhood, sexuality, social justice, anti-fascism, ecology, visual and cultural theory \| movement = \| notableworks = <!-- or: \| notablework = --> \| spouse = <!-- or: \| spouses = --> \| partner = <!-- or: \| partners = --> \| children = William L Rukeyser \| relatives = Rebecca Rukeyser \| awards = \| signature = Line 36: \| years_active = \| module = \| website = {{URL\|https://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/}} \| portaldisp = <!-- "on", "yes", "true", etc; or omit --> }} '''Muriel Rukeyser''' (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, biographer, novelist, screenwriter and political activist. She wrote ~~poems~~across ~~about~~genres ~~equality~~and forms, ~~feminism~~addressing issues related to racial, ~~social~~gender and class justice, war and ~~Judaism~~war crimes, Jewish culture and diaspora, American history, politics, and culture. [[Kenneth Rexroth]] said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation," [[Anne Sexton]] famously described her as "mother of us all", while [[Adrienne Rich]] wrote that she was “our twentieth-century Coleridge; our Neruda."<ref>{{cite journal\|last=Rich\|first=Adrienne\|date=1993\|title=Beginners\|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4336859\|journal=The Kenyon Review\|volume=15\|issue=3\|pages=12–19\|jstor=4336859 \|access-date=July 11, 2024}}</ref> One of her most powerful pieces was athe ~~group~~long ~~of poems~~poem titled ''The Book of the Dead'' (1938), documenting the details of the [[Hawk's Nest incident]], an industrial disaster in which hundreds of miners died of [[silicosis]]. Her poem "To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century" (1944), on the theme of [[Judaism]] as a gift, was adopted by the American [[Reform Judaism\|Reform]] and [[Reconstructionist Judaism\|Reconstructionist]] movements for their [[Siddur\|prayer books]], something Rukeyser said "astonished" her, as she had remained distant from Judaism throughout her early life.<ref>{{cite web\|title=On "To Be a Jew in the Twentieth Century"\|url=http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/tobeajew.htm\|work=Modern American Poetry\|publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign\|access-date=April 6, 2012\|archive-date=August 20, 2008\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820064625/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/tobeajew.htm\|url-status=dead}}</ref> ==Early life== Muriel Rukeyser was born on December 15, 1913, to Lawrence and Myra Lyons Rukeyser.<ref>{{Cite book\|title=American writers: a collection of literary biographies\|last1=Unger\|first1=Leonard\|last2=Litz\|first2=A. Walton\|last3=Weigel\|first3=Molly\|last4=Bechler\|first4=Lea\|last5=Parini\|first5=Jay\|date=1974-01-01\|publisher=Scribner\|isbn=0684197855\|location=New York\|oclc = 1041142\|language=en}}</ref> She attended the [[Ethical Culture Fieldston School]], a private school in [[The Bronx]], then [[Vassar College]] in [[Poughkeepsie (town), New York\|Poughkeepsie]]. From 1930 to 321932, she attended [[Columbia University]]. Her literary career began in 1935 when her book of poetry ''Theory of Flight'', based on flying lessons she took, was chosen by the American poet [[Stephen Vincent Benét]] for publication in the ''[[Yale Younger Poets Series]]''. ==Activism and writing== {{blockquote\|Rukeyser was one of the great integrators, seeing the fragmentary world of modernity not as irretrievably broken, but in need of societal and emotional repair.\|[[Adrienne Rich]]\|title=Essays on Art in Society\|source=A Human Eye}} Rukeyser was active in progressive politics throughout her life. At age 21, she covered the [[Scottsboro case]] in Alabama, then worked for the [[International Labor Defense]], which handled the defendants' appeals. She wrote for the ''[[Daily Worker]]'' and a variety of publications, including ''Decision'' and ''Life & Letters Today'', for which she ~~covered~~was supposed to cover the [[People's Olympiad]] (Olimpiada Popular, Barcelona), the [[Catalonia\|Catalan]] government's alternative to the Nazis' [[1936 Berlin Olympics]]. ~~While~~Instead ~~she~~of ~~was~~reporting inon ~~Spain~~the games, she witnessed the first days of the [[Spanish Civil War]] ~~broke~~an ~~out~~experiences that she would describe as a "moment of proof," forming the basis of her rediscovered autobiographical novel, ''Savage Coast'',<ref>{{cite book \|last=Rukeyser \|first=Muriel \|editor-last=Kennedy-Epstein \|editor-first=Rowena \|date=2013 \|title=Savage Coast \|publisher=The Feminist Press \|isbn=9781558618206 }}</ref> and the long poem ''Mediterranean''. ~~Most~~Rukeyser famously~~, she~~ traveled to [[Gauley Bridge]], [[West Virginia]] with the filmmaker and photographer [[Nancy Naumburg]], to investigate the recurring [[silicosis]] among miners there, which resulted in her [[modernist]] masterpiece the documentary poem ~~sequence~~[[The Book of the Dead (poem)\|''The Book of the Dead'' (poem)]]. During and after [[World War II]], she gave a ~~number~~series of ~~striking~~lectures, ~~public~~entitled ~~lectures~~''The Usable Truth'', ~~published~~about art and politics in times of crisis, eventually published as ''The Life of Poetry'' .<ref>[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/life.htm excerpts online at] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706072937/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/life.htm \|date=July 6, 2008 }} University of Illinois English Department</ref> From the end of the war through the period of [[McCarthyism]], she was the target of sexist literary and political attacks which affected her career trajectory and publishing opportunities,<ref>{{cite journal\|last=Kennedy-Epstein \|first=Rowena \|date=2017 \|title=The Spirit of Revolt: Women Writers, Archives and the Cold War \|url=https://modernismmodernity.org/forums/posts/spirit-revolt-women-writers-archives-and-cold-war \|journal=Modernism/Modernity Print Plus \|volume=2 \|issue=2 \|doi=10.26597/mod.0025\|access-date=July 11, 2024}}</ref> and the FBI compiled a thick file on her as a suspected Communist.<ref name="Thurston 2001">{{cite book \|last1=Thurston \|first1=Michael \|title=Making Something Happen: American Political Poetry between the World Wars \|date=2006 \|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press\|location=Chapel Hill \|isbn=9780807849798 \|pages=177–178}}</ref> For much of her life, she taught university classes and led writing workshops, but she never became a career academic. In 1996, Paris Press reissued ''The Life of Poetry'', which was published in 1949 but had fallen out of print. In a publisher's note, Jan Freeman called it a book that "ranks among the most essential works of twentieth century literature." In it Rukeyser makes the case that poetry is essential to democracy, essential to human life and understanding. In the 1960s and 1970s, when Rukeyser presided over [[~~International~~PEN ~~PEN\|PEN~~America]]~~'s American center~~, her feminism and opposition to the [[Vietnam War]] drew a new generation to her poetry. The title poem of her ~~last~~final book, ''The Gates'', is based on her unsuccessful attempt to visit Korean poet [[Kim Chi-Ha]] on death row in [[South Korea]]. In 1968, she signed the "[[Writers and Editors War Tax Protest]]" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.<ref>"Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" January 30, 1968 ''New York Post''</ref> In addition to her poetry, she wrote a fictionalized memoir, ''The Orgy'', plays and screenplays, and translated work by [[Octavio Paz]] and [[Gunnar Ekelöf]]. She also wrote biographies of [[Josiah Willard Gibbs]], [[Wendell Willkie]], and [[Thomas Hariot]]. [[Andrea Dworkin]] worked as her secretary in the early 1970s. Also in the 1970s she served on the Advisory Board of the [[Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective]], a New York City based theatre group that wrote and produced plays on feminist issues. Line 73: Writer Marian Evans and composer Chris White are collaborating on a play about Rukeyser, ''Throat of These Hours'', titled after a line in Rukeyser's ''Speed of Darkness''. The ''[[Journal of Narrative Theory\|~~JDT~~JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory]], a publication from Eastern Michigan University,'' dedicated a special issue to Rukeyser in Fall 2013.<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/welcome/jnt-journal-of-narrative-theory-43-3-contents/ \|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140117023512/http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/welcome/jnt-journal-of-narrative-theory-43-3-contents/ \|url-status=dead \|archive-date=17 January 2014 \|title=Muriel Rukeyser: A Living Archive \|date=4 December 2013 \|publisher=[[Eastern Michigan University]] \|access-date=16 January 2014 }}</ref> Rukeyser's 5-poem sequence "Käthe Kollwitz" (The Speed of Darkness, 1968, Random House)<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/writing/kathe-kollwitz/ \|title=Käthe Kollwitz \|website=murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org \|date=December 7, 2018 \|access-date=2020-03-01}}</ref> was set by Tom Myron in his composition "Käthe Kollwitz for Soprano and String Quartet," "written in response to a commission from violist Julia Adams for a work celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Portland String Quartet in 1998."<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.dramonline.org/albums/darkness-light-vol-3/notes \|title=Darkness & Light, Vol. 3 \|website=dramonline.org \|access-date=2020-03-01}}</ref> Line 80: ==Personal life== Rukeyser was bisexual. In 1936 she had traveled to Spain to cover the [[People's Olympiad]] for the literary journal [[Life and Letters]]. The [[Spanish Civil War]] broke out and during her five-day stay, she fell in love with Otto Boch, a German communist athlete who volunteered to fight the fascists, and who was later killed. That experience was evoked in "To Bebe Aa Jew" in the Twentieth Century." Also, her literary agent Monica McCall was her partner for decades.<ref>https://jewishcurrents.org/muriels-gift/ "Muriel’s Gift". February 11, 2016. Posted by Helen Engelhardt: Rukeyser’s Poems on Jewish Themes Line 99: ''U.S. 1: Poems''. Covici, Friede, 1938. ''A Turning Wind: Poems''. Viking, 1939. * ''The Soul and Body of John Brown.'' Privately printed, 1940. With etchings by [[Rudolph von Ripper]].<ref>{{cite book\|title=The Soul and Body of John Brown\|first=Muriel\|last=Rukeyser\|url=https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/65662\|date=1940}}</ref> ''Wake Island''. Doubleday, 1942. ''Beast in View''. Doubleday, 1944. Line 115: ; Fiction by Rukeyser ''Savage Coast : A Novel.'' Feminist Press, 2013.<ref>{{Cite book\|title=Savage coast\|last1=Rukeyser\|first1=Muriel\|last2=Kennedy-Epstein\|first2=Rowena\|date=2014-01-01\|publisher=The Feminist Press at CUNY \|isbn=9781558618206\|oclc = 887938693\|language=en}}</ref> ; Plays by Rukeyser Line 121: ''The Colors of the Day: A Celebration of the Vassar Centennial.'' Produced in Poughkeepsie, NY, at Vassar College, June 10, 1961. * ''Houdini.'' Produced in Lenox, MA, at Lenox Arts Center, July 3, 1973.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/muriel-rukeyser\|title=Muriel Rukeyser\|date=2017-03-07\|website=Poetry Foundation\|language=en-us\|access-date=2017-03-08}}</ref> Published as ''Houdini: A Musical,'' Paris Press, 2002.<ref>{{Cite book\|last1=Spangler\|first1=David\|title=Houdini: a musical\|last2=Rukeyser\|first2=Muriel\|date=2002-01-01\|publisher=Paris Press\|isbn=1930464045\|location=Ashfield, Mass.\|language=en}}</ref> ; Film written by Rukeyser * ''All the Way Home.'' Produced in New York City, NY, 1957. ; Children's books Line 146 ⟶ 149: * ''Selected Poems of Gunnar Ekelöf.'' With Leif Sjöberg. Twayne, 1967. * ''Three Poems.'' [[Gunnar Ekelöf]]. T. Williams, 1967. * ''Uncle Eddie's Moustache.'' [[Bertolt Brecht]]. Pantheon Books, 1974. * ''A Molna Elegy: Metamorphoses.'' Gunnar Ekelöf. With Leif Sjöberg. 2 volumes. Unicorn Press, 1984. Line 154 ⟶ 157: ''A Muriel Rukeyser Reader''. Norton, 1994. ''The Collected Poems of Muriel Rukeyser''. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005. The Muriel Rukeyser Era: Selected Prose. Eds. Eric Keenaghan and Rowena Kennedy-Epstein. Cornell University Press, 2023. ==References== Line 166 ⟶ 170: Herzog, Anne E. & Kaufman, Janet E. (1999) "But Not in the Study: Writing as a Jew" in ''How Shall We Tell Each Other of the Poet?: The Life and Writing of Muriel Rukeyser''. * Jarrell, Randall. Poetry and the Age (1953) * Kennedy-Epstein, Rowena. Unfinished Spirit: Muriel Rukeyser's Twentieth Century (2022) * Kertesz, Louise. The Poetic Vision of Muriel Rukeyser (1980) * Levi, Jan Heller, ed. A Muriel Rukeyser Reader (1994) * Myles, Eileen, "[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/life.htm Fear of Poetry] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706072937/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/life.htm \|date=July 6, 2008 }}." Review of ''The Life of Poetry'', ''The Nation'' (April 14, 1997). This page includes several reviews, with much biographical information. * Pacernick, Gary. "Muriel Rukeyser: Prophet of Social and Political Justice." Memory and Fire: Ten American Jewish Poets (1989) * Rich, Adrienne. "Beginners." Kenyon Review 15 (Summer 1993): 12–19 Line 174 ⟶ 179: * Rudnitsky, Lexi. [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/tulsa_studies_in_womens_literature/v027/27.2.rudnitsky.pdf "Planes, Politics, and Protofeminist Poetics: Muriel Rukeyser's ''Theory of Flight'' and The Middle of the Air]," ''Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature'', v.27, n.2 (Fall 2008), pp. 237–257, DOI: 10.1353/tsw.0.0045 * "A Special Issue on Muriel Rukeyser." Poetry East 16/17 (Spring/Summer 1985); * Thurston, Michael, "[http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/bio.htm Biographical sketch] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704030033/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/bio.htm \|date=July 4, 2008 }}." ''Modern American Poetry'', retrieved January 30, 2006 * Turner, Alberta. "Muriel Rukeyser." In Dictionary of Literary Biography 48, s.v. "American Poets, 1880–1945" (1986): 370–375; UJE; * "Under Forty." Contemporary Jewish Record 7 (February 1944): 4–9 Line 183 ⟶ 188: [http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/ Muriel Rukeyser: A Living Archive] Ongoing project by [[Eastern Michigan University]] featuring creative content by Rukeyser as well as critical resources and creative responses by artists and scholars. [http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms006024 Muriel Rukeyser papers, 1844–1986] at the [[Library of Congress]] [http://specialcollections.vassar.edu/collections/manuscripts/findingaids/rukeyser_muriel.html Guide to the Muriel Rukeyser Papers] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200924160052/https://specialcollections.vassar.edu/collections/manuscripts/findingaids/rukeyser_muriel.html \|date=September 24, 2020 }} at the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library [http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/rukeyser.htm Muriel Rukeyser] {{Webarchive\|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217062134/http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/rukeyser.htm \|date=December 17, 2008 }} by Michael Thurston, ''Modern American Poetry'', retrieved January 30, 2006 [https://web.archive.org/web/20140617131835/http://murielrukeyser.emuenglish.org/writing/the-book-of-the-dead/ "The Book of the Dead"] by Muriel Rukeyser [http://vault.fbi.gov/Muriel%20Rukeyser Muriel Rukeyser's FBI files] [http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/Rukeyser.php PennSound page] (audio recordings). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9e7zXKNNwg/ All the Way Home, short film] {{Authority control}} Line 197 ⟶ 203: [[Category:American tax resisters]] [[Category:American women poets]] [[Category:Bisexual women writers]] [[Category:Bisexual ~~writers~~poets]] [[Category:Columbia University alumni]] [[Category:Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni]] Line 204 ⟶ 210: [[Category:Jewish feminists]] [[Category:Jewish women writers]] [[Category:~~LGBT~~Bisexual Jews]] [[Category:American LGBT poets]] [[Category:American LGBT writers]]▼ [[Category:Sarah Lawrence College faculty]] [[Category:Vassar College alumni]] Line 215 ⟶ 220: [[Category:Bisexual academics]] [[Category:Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters]] ▲[[Category:American ~~LGBT~~bisexual writers]]