Adrienne Rich

Adrienne Rich was a major figure in American letters for a generation. As poet, feminist thinker and political activist, she addressed the dislocations of our world, especially the divorce of the private and the public. She was both controversial and celebrated for her activism — and the recipient of many awards for poems and essays that bring a piercing candor to human relationships. She was a fellow of the Academy of American Poets and a MacArthur Fellow. In 1992 she received the Frost Silver Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement awarded by the Poetry Society of America. Rich died in 2012 at the age of 82.