Lorine Niedecker
Poet of Place
I think lines of poetry that I may use — all day long and even in the night.
– Lorine Niedecker, speaking to Cid Corman shortly before her death in 1970.
One of the finest American poets at all, besides being easily the finest female American poet … Lorine Niedecker never fails; whatever she writes is excellent.
– Basil Bunting
Life
Lorine Niedecker (1903-1970) was an important twentieth-century American poet. Living most of her life on the shores of the Rock River near Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, Niedecker is perhaps best known as a poet of place who wrote about the Blackhawk Island that she loved. Niedecker died in 1970, just as her poetry was reaching a larger audience.
Writing
In addition to her writing about her home place, Niedecker’s body of work includes surrealist-influenced exploration of dreams and the subconscious, folk poetry influenced by Mother Goose tales and vernacular speech, exquisite haiku-like short poems, and expansive long poems which explore history, biography, and geologic time.
Research
Over the past half-century, Niedecker’s life and writing have been the subject of serious study by critics from around the world. She has often been praised for her perseverance in total devotion to the craft of poetry and for the sublety, intelligence, and irony visible in her extraordinarily condensed, carefully crafted, and highly musical poems.
The Friends of Lorine Niedecker
The Friends of Lorine Niedecker (FoLN) is a volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and expanding the legacy of Lorine Niedecker.
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FoLN Events
The Friends of Lorine Niedecker hosts multiple events each year, including poetry readings through the Solitary Plover and the North Central reading series.
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Upcoming Friends of Lorine Niedecker events:
FoLN News
The Friends of Lorine Niedecker publishes the Solitary Plover, a bi-annual newsletter which includes Niedecker-related news and original poetry from contributors around the world.
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Our blog includes occasional Niedecker-related news items:
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“Locating Lorine Niedecker”, a collection of new essays published at Post45
The Friends of Lorine Niedecker were really excited to see a recent set of essays related to Lorine Niedecker over at Post45, with contributions from poets and scholar like Hoa […] Read more
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Solitary Plover Newsletter and Reading
The Winter 2024 issue of the Solitary Plover has been published here. The Hear the Solitary Plover reading is scheduled for Thursday, February 29 at 6:30 pm CST remotely on […] Read more
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North Central Reading Series: Tirzah Goldenberg & Joshua Beckman (10/1/23)
Friends of Lorine Niedecker (FoLN) present the second in a biannual series of North Central virtual readings on Sunday, October 1, 2023 at 5pm CST. October readers will be Tirzah […] Read more