Muriel Rukeyser (December 15, 1913 – February 12, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, biographer, novelist, screenwriter and political activist. She wrote across genres and forms, addressing issues related to racial, gender and class justice, war and war crimes, Jewish culture and diaspora, American history, politics, and culture.
Kenneth Rexroth
Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth (December 22, 1905 – June 6, 1982) was an American poet, translator, and critical essayist. He is regarded as a central figure in the San Francisco Renaissance, and paved the groundwork for the movement. Althoug ...
said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation,"
Anne Sexton
Anne Sexton (born Anne Gray Harvey; November 9, 1928 – October 4, 1974) was an American poet known for her highly personal, confessional poetry, confessional verse. She won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1967 for her book ''Live or Die (book ...
famously described her as "mother of us all", while
Adrienne Rich
Adrienne Cecile Rich ( ; May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012) was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century", and was credited with bringing "the ...
wrote that she was “our twentieth-century Coleridge; our Neruda."
One of her most powerful pieces was the long poem titled ''
The Book of the Dead'' (1938), documenting the details of the
Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster
The Hawks Nest Tunnel disaster was a large-scale incident of occupational silicosis, lung disease in the 1930s as the result of the construction of the Hawks Nest Tunnel near Gauley Bridge, West Virginia, as part of a hydroelectric project. Th ...
, an industrial disaster in which hundreds of miners died of
silicosis
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of Nodule (medicine), nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneum ...
.
Her poem "To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century" (1944), on the theme of
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
as a gift, was adopted by the American
Reform
Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
and
Reconstructionist movements for their
prayer books, something Rukeyser said "astonished" her, as she had remained distant from Judaism throughout her early life.
Early life
Muriel Rukeyser was born on December 15, 1913, to Lawrence and Myra Lyons Rukeyser. She attended the
Ethical Culture Fieldston School
The Ethical Culture Fieldston School (ECFS), also known more simply as Fieldston or Ethical Culture, is a private pre-K through twelfth grade coeducational school in New York City with two campuses, in Manhattan and in the Bronx. The school is ...
, a private school in
The Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, then
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
in
Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...
. From 1930 to 1932, she attended
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
.
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
Stephen Vincent Benét ( ; July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943) was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He wrote a book-length narrative poem of the American Civil War, '' John Brown's Body'', published in 1928, for which he receive ...
for publication in the ''
Yale Younger Poets Series''.
Activism and writing
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
The International Labor Defense (ILD) (1925–1947) was a legal advocacy organization established in 1925 in the United States as the American section of the Comintern's International Red Aid network. The ILD defended Sacco and Vanzetti, was active ...
, which handled the defendants' appeals. She wrote for the ''
Daily Worker
The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...
'' and a variety of publications, including ''Decision'' and ''Life & Letters Today'', for which she was supposed to cover the
People's Olympiad
The People's Olympiad ( Catalan: ''Olimpíada Popular'', Spanish: ''Olimpiada Popular'') was a planned international multi-sport event that was intended to take place in 1936 in Barcelona, Catalonia within the Spanish Republic. It was conceived a ...
(Olimpiada Popular, Barcelona), the
Catalan government's alternative to the Nazis'
1936 Berlin Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...
. Instead of reporting on the games, she witnessed the first days of the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, an experiences that she would describe as a "moment of proof," forming the basis of her rediscovered autobiographical novel, ''Savage Coast'', and the long poem ''Mediterranean''. Rukeyser famously traveled to
Gauley Bridge,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
with the filmmaker and photographer
Nancy Naumburg, to investigate the recurring
silicosis
Silicosis is a form of occupational lung disease caused by inhalation of crystalline silica dust. It is marked by inflammation and scarring in the form of Nodule (medicine), nodular lesions in the upper lobes of the lungs. It is a type of pneum ...
among miners there, which resulted in her
modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
masterpiece the documentary poem
''The Book of the Dead'' (poem). During and after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
she gave a series of lectures, entitled ''The Usable Truth'', about art and politics in times of crisis, eventually published, in 1949. as ''The Life of Poetry''. From the end of the war through the period of
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is a political practice defined by the political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals and a Fear mongering, campaign spreading fear of communist and Soviet influence on American institutions and of Soviet espionage i ...
, she was the target of sexist literary and political attacks which affected her career trajectory and publishing opportunities, and the FBI compiled a thick file on her as a suspected Communist.
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
PEN America
PEN America (formerly PEN American Center), founded in 1922, and headquartered in New York City, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose goal is to raise awareness for the protection of free expression in the United States and worldwide th ...
, her feminism and opposition to the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
drew a new generation to her poetry. The title poem of her final book, ''The Gates'', is based on her unsuccessful attempt to visit Korean poet
Kim Chi-Ha
Kim Jiha or Kim Chi-ha (; born Kim Yeongil (); 4 February 1941 – 8 May 2022) was a South Korean poet and playwright.LTI Korea Author Database: http://klti.or.kr/ke_04_03_011.do#
Biography
Kim Jiha was born Kim Yeongil () on 4 February 1941 ...
on death row in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
. In 1968, she signed the "
Writers and Editors War Tax Protest
Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse o ...
" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
In addition to her poetry, she wrote a fictionalized memoir, ''The Orgy'', plays, among them the musical ''Houdini'', and screenplays. She also translated work by
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
and
Gunnar Ekelöf. She wrote biographies of
Josiah Willard Gibbs
Josiah Willard Gibbs (; February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynami ...
,
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...
, and
Thomas Hariot.
Andrea Dworkin
Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen sol ...
worked as her secretary in the early 1970s. Also in the 1970s she served on the Advisory Board of the
Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective
The Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective was a group of professional women playwrights in New York active from 1971 to 1975. They wrote and produced feminist plays and were one of the first feminist theatre groups in the United States to do so ...
, a New York City based theatre group that wrote and produced plays on feminist issues.
Rukeyser died in New York on February 12, 1980, from a stroke, with
diabetes
Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...
as a contributing factor. She was 66.
In other media
In the television show ''
Supernatural
Supernatural phenomena or entities are those beyond the Scientific law, laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin 'above, beyond, outside of' + 'nature'. Although the corollary term "nature" has had multiple meanin ...
'', Metatron the angel quotes an excerpt of Rukeyser's poem "Speed of Darkness": "The Universe is made of stories, not of atoms."
Jeanette Winterson
Jeanette Winterson (born 27 August 1959) is an English author.
Her first book, '' Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'', was a semi-autobiographical novel about a lesbian growing up in an English Pentecostal community. Other novels explore gender ...
's novel ''Gut Symmetries'' (1997) quotes Rukeyser's poem "King's Mountain".
Rukeyser's translation of a poem by Octavio Paz was adapted by
Eric Whitacre
Eric Edward Whitacre (born January2, 1970) is an American composer, conductor, and speaker best known for his choral music.
Early life
Whitacre was born in Reno, Nevada, to Ross and Roxanne Whitacre. He studied piano intermittently as a child a ...
for his choral composition "
Water Night."
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
set one of her texts in his opera ''
Doctor Atomic
''Doctor Atomic'' is an opera by the contemporary American composer John Adams, with a libretto by Peter Sellars. It premiered at the San Francisco Opera on October 1, 2005. The work focuses on how leading figures at Los Alamos dealt with the ...
'', and
Libby Larsen
Elizabeth Brown Larsen (born December 24, 1950) is a contemporary American classical composer. Along with composer Stephen Paulus, she is a co-founder of the Minnesota Composers Forum, now the American Composers Forum.
A former holder of the Pa ...
set the poem "Looking at Each Other" in her choral work ''Love Songs''.
Writer Marian Evans and composer Chris White collaborated on a play about Rukeyser, ''Throat of These Hours'', titled after a line in Rukeyser's ''Speed of Darkness''.
JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory' dedicated a special issue to Rukeyser in Fall 2013.
Rukeyser's 5-poem sequence "Käthe Kollwitz" (The Speed of Darkness, 1968, Random House) 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."
Rukeyser's poem "Gunday's Child" was set to music by the experimental rock band
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum (often abbreviated to SGM) is an American experimental rock band, formed in 1999 in Oakland, California. The band fuses classical, industrial, and art-rock themes throughout their music. They are known to perform elabor ...
.
Personal life
Rukeyeser never spoke publicly about her sexuality, but had relationships with men and women throughout her life.
Her literary agent Monica McCall was her partner for decades. She was briefly married in 1945. In 1947, she gave birth to her only child, William Rukeyser, whose father was a different man to the one she had married.
In 1936 she had traveled to Spain to cover the
People's Olympiad
The People's Olympiad ( Catalan: ''Olimpíada Popular'', Spanish: ''Olimpiada Popular'') was a planned international multi-sport event that was intended to take place in 1936 in Barcelona, Catalonia within the Spanish Republic. It was conceived a ...
for the literary journal
Life and Letters. The
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
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 be a Jew in the Twentieth Century."
Awards
*
Yale Younger Poets Award
The Yale Series of Younger Poets is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the debut collection of a promising American poet. Established in 1918, the Younger Poets Prize is the longest-running annual literary award in the Uni ...
(1935) with ''Theory of Flight''
* Harriet Monroe Poetry Award (the first)
*
Levinson Prize
*
Copernicus Prize
*
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
Works
; Rukeyser's original collections of poetry
*''Theory of Flight''. Foreword by Stephen Vincent Benet. New Haven: Yale Uni. Press, 1935. Won the
Yale Younger Poets Award
The Yale Series of Younger Poets is an annual event of Yale University Press aiming to publish the debut collection of a promising American poet. Established in 1918, the Younger Poets Prize is the longest-running annual literary award in the Uni ...
in 1935.
*''Mediterranean.'' Writers and Artists Committee, Medical Bureau to Aid Spanish Democracy, 1938.
*''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.
*''Wake Island''. Doubleday, 1942.
*''Beast in View''. Doubleday, 1944.
*''The Green Wave: Poems''. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1948. Includes translations of
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
poems and rari.
* ''Orpheus.'' Centaur Press, 1949. With the drawing "Orpheus" by
Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
.
*''Elegies''. New Directions, 1949.
*''Selected Poems''. New Directions, 1951.
*''Body of Waking: Poems''. NY: Harper, 1958. Includes translated poems of
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
.
*''Waterlily Fire: Poems 1935-1962''. NY: Macmillan, 1962.
*''The Outer Banks''. Santa Barbara CA: Unicorn, 1967. 2nd rev. ed., 1980.
*''The Speed of Darkness: Poems''. NY: Random House, 1968.
*''29 Poems''. Rapp & Whiting, 1972.
*''Breaking Open: New Poems''. Random House, 1973.
*''The Gates: Poems''. NY: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
; Fiction by Rukeyser
*''Savage Coast : A Novel.'' Feminist Press, 2013.
; Plays by Rukeyser
* ''The Middle of the Air.'' Produced in Iowa City, IA, 1945.
* ''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. Published as ''Houdini: A Musical,'' Paris Press, 2002.
; Film written by Rukeyser
* ''All the Way Home.'' Produced in New York City, NY, 1957.
; Children's books
*''Come Back, Paul.'' Harper, 1955.
* ''I Go Out.'' Harper, 1961. Illustrated by Leonard Kessler.
* ''Bubbles.'' Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967.
* ''Mazes.'' Simon & Schuster, 1970. Photography by Milton Charles.
*''More Night.'' Harper & Row, 1981. Illustrated b
Symeon Shimin
; Memoirs by Rukeyser
*''The Orgy: An Irish Journey of Passion and Transformation''. London: Andre Deutsch, 1965; NY: Pocket Books, 1966; Ashfield, MA: Paris Press, 1997.
; Works of criticism by Rukeyser
*''The Life of Poetry''. NY: Current Books, 1949; Morrow, 1974; Paris Press, 1996.
; Biographies by Rukeyser
*''Willard Gibbs: American Genius'', 1942. Reprinted by the Ox Bow Press, Woodbridge CT. Biography of
Josiah Willard Gibbs
Josiah Willard Gibbs (; February 11, 1839 – April 28, 1903) was an American mechanical engineer and scientist who made fundamental theoretical contributions to physics, chemistry, and mathematics. His work on the applications of thermodynami ...
, physicist.
*''One Life''. NY: Simon and Schuster, 1957. Biography of
Wendell Willkie
Wendell Lewis Willkie (born Lewis Wendell Willkie; February 18, 1892 – October 8, 1944) was an American lawyer, corporate executive and the 1940 History of the Republican Party (United States), Republican nominee for president. Willkie appeale ...
.
*''The Traces of Thomas Hariot''. NY: Random House, 1971. Biography of
Thomas Hariot.
; Translations by Rukeyser
* ''Selected Poems of Octavio Paz.'' Indiana University Press, 1963. Rev. ed. published as ''Early Poems 1935-1955,'' New Directions, 1973.
* ''Sun Stone.''
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
. New Directions, 1963.
* ''Selected Poems of Gunnar Ekelöf.'' With Leif Sjöberg. Twayne, 1967.
* ''Three Poems.''
Gunnar Ekelöf. T. Williams, 1967.
* ''Uncle Eddie's Moustache.''
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
. Pantheon Books, 1974.
* ''A Molna Elegy: Metamorphoses.'' Gunnar Ekelöf. With Leif Sjöberg. 2 volumes. Unicorn Press, 1984.
; Edited collections of Rukeyser's works
* ''The Collected Poems of Muriel Rukeyser.'' McGraw, 1978.
* ''Out of Silence: Selected Poems.'' Edited by Kate Daniels. Triquarterly Books, 1992.
*''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
Further reading
* Barber, David S. "Finding Her Voice: Muriel Rukeyser's Poetic Development." Modern Poetry Studies 11, no. 1 (1982): 127–138
* Barber, David S. "'The Poet of Unity': Muriel Rukeyser's Willard Gibbs." CLIO: A Journal of Literature, History and the Philosophy of History 12 (Fall 1982): 1–15; "Craft Interview with Muriel Rukeyser." New York Quarterly 11 (Summer 1972) and in The Craft of Poetry, edited by William Packard (1974)
* Daniels, Kate, ed. Out of Silence: Selected Poems of Muriel Rukeyser (1992), and "Searching/Not Searching: Writing the Biography of Muriel Rukeyser." Poetry East 16/17 (Spring/Summer 1985): 70–93
* Gander, Catherine. Muriel Rukeyser and Documentary: The Poetics of Connection (EUP, 2013)
* Gardinier, Suzanne. "'A World That Will Hold All The People': On Muriel Rukeyser." Kenyon Review 14 (Summer 1992): 88–105
* 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,
Fear of Poetry." 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
* Rosenthal, M.L. "Muriel Rukeyser: The Longer Poems." In New Directions in Prose and Poetry, edited by James Laughlin. Vol. 14 (1953): 202–229;
* Rudnitsky, Lexi
"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,
." ''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
* Ware, Michele S. "Opening 'The Gates': Muriel Rukeyser and the Poetry of Witness." Women's Studies: An Introductory Journal 22, no. 3 (1993): 297–308; WWWIA, 7.
External links
Muriel Rukeyser: A Living Archive ongoing project by
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public university, public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal ...
featuring creative content by Rukeyser as well as critical resources and scholarly/creative responses by artists and scholars.
Muriel Rukeyser papers, 1844–1986at the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...
Guide to the Muriel Rukeyser Papers at the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library
by Michael Thurston, ''Modern American Poetry'', retrieved January 30, 2006
"The Book of the Dead"by Muriel Rukeyser
Muriel Rukeyser's FBI filesPennSound page(audio recordings).
All the Way Home, short film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rukeyser, Muriel
1913 births
1980 deaths
American feminists
American tax resisters
American women poets
Bisexual women writers
Bisexual poets
Columbia University alumni
Ethical Culture Fieldston School alumni
Jewish American poets
Jewish American feminists
Jewish women writers
Bisexual Jews
American LGBTQ poets
Sarah Lawrence College faculty
Vassar College alumni
Yale Younger Poets winners
20th-century American poets
20th-century American women writers
LGBTQ people from New York (state)
Bisexual academics
Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
American bisexual writers
Jewish LGBTQ women