Letter from Kertesz to Rukeyser with attachment, February 17 1978

Louise Kertesz

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Original letter, dated February 17th, 1978 , written by Louise Kertesz to Muriel Rukeyser and attached to a typed copy of Rukeyser's preface to her forthcoming Collected Poems. Louise begins the letter by thanking Muriel for the Preface to the book. The Preface is “...beautiful and so recognizably yours.” It speaks directly to Rukeyser’s “one reader,” to Louise and to each person who will hold Rukeyser’s book. Louise then states that the fact that Muriel did not cut the poems, and that “...retaining for us the large castings forth in their original bold, hopeful gestures—that is also recognizably you.” She thanks Rukeyser for her truthfulness in “'how things formed' for you which will encourage many to cast forth, which has encouraged me and will always encourage me: put heart into my imagining." As Louise read the Preface over and over, she felt like “my lifetimes” was not a typo, and that Rukeyser creates the creative. Louise ends the letter by saying that knowing Rukeyser’s poems is one of the greatest gifts of her life. There is a postscript to the letter that asks whether or not Rukeyser is still coming to Mount Holyoke College in the Spring.

EMU Archives Collection Identifier

018.LK, Louise Kertesz papers

Comments

February 17th, 1978

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS