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Lorine Niedecker


Poet of Place

Lorine Niedecker

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.

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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.

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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.

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Ann Engelman and Lisa Fishman hold the plaque for the National Historic Register and the plaque with a poem.

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:

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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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