Poetry and Power: Carolyn Kizer Making Waves

Authors

  • Marian Janssen
  • Carolyn Kizer

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18422/79-2805

Abstract

no abstract

Author Biographies

Marian Janssen

Marian Janssen studied English at Radboud University, the Netherlands, where she received both her MA and PhD, cum laude. Her dissertation, published as The Kenyon Review (1939–1970): A Critical History (Louisiana State University Press, 1990), was nominated for several major prizes. After a short academic career, she became Director of Radboud University’s International Office while continuing to write in her spare time. She is the author of Not at All What One Is Used To: The Life and Times of Isabella Gardner (University of Missouri Press, 2010). Work on the Gardner biography led to her current project on Carolyn Kizer, for which she accepted a research appointment at Radboud University’s Faculty of Arts. She has held numerous fellowships and grants in the United States and Europe, including from the American Council of Learned Societies, the Fulbright Program, and the American Philosophical Society.

Carolyn Kizer

Carolyn Kizer (1923-2014) made her way as writer, editor, and powerbroker in the American literary landscape from the 1950s through 2000. From her first book, The Ungrateful Garden (1961), a finalist for the Pulitzer, to her Pulitzer Prize-winning Yin (1984) and her final volume Cool, Calm & Collected (2001), Kizer’s poetry has been praised for its passion and engagement with politics and feminism. She co-founded and edited the influential journal Poetry Northwest at the University of Washington. She became the first Literature Director of the NEA, starting programs for strapped literary journals and writers. Kizer took to battle against misogyny and racism with irony and intelligence as her main weapons.

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Published

2026-09-24

How to Cite

Janssen, Marian, and Carolyn Kizer. “Poetry and Power: Carolyn Kizer Making Waves”. New American Studies Journal: A Forum, vol. 79, Sept. 2026, doi:10.18422/79-2805.

Issue

Vol. 79 (2026): Paris Anglophone Writing: a Special NASJ Issue

Section

Literary Presences in Paris

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Göttingen University Press, Göttingen

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.