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Muriel Rukeyser

Author profile

born

in New York, The United States

December 15, 1913

died

February 12, 1980

gender

female

genre

Poetry

About this author

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Muriel Rukeyser was an American poet and political activist, best known for her poems about equality, feminism, social justice, and Judaism. Kenneth Rexroth said that she was the greatest poet of her "exact generation".

One of her most powerful pieces was a group of poems entitled The Book of the Dead (1938), documenting the details of the Hawk's Nest incident, an industrial disaster in which hundreds of miners died of silicosis.

Her poem "To be a Jew in the Twentieth Century" (1944), on the theme of Judaism as a gift, was adopted by the American Reform and Reconstructionist movements for their prayer books, something Rukeyser said "astonished" her, as she had remained distant from Judaism throughout her early life.

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Muriel Rukeyser's Books

Average rating: 4.27 · 817 ratings · 80 reviews · 38 distinct works · Similar authors

	The Life of Poetry by Muriel Rukeyser, Jane Cooper (Foreword by) 4.44 of 5 stars 4.44 avg rating — 115 ratings — published 1968 — 3 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Collected Poems by Muriel Rukeyser, Janet E. Kaufman (Editor), Anne F. Herzog (Editor) 4.36 of 5 stars 4.36 avg rating — 118 ratings — published 1978 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Out of Silence: Selected Poems by Muriel Rukeyser, Kate Daniels (Editor) 4.26 of 5 stars 4.26 avg rating — 76 ratings — published 1992 — 4 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Poems by Muriel Rukeyser, Adrienne Rich (Editor) 4.21 of 5 stars 4.21 avg rating — 47 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Book of the Dead 4.41 of 5 stars 4.41 avg rating — 22 ratings — published 1933	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Breaking Open 4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1973 — 2 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Speed Of Darkness 4.36 of 5 stars 4.36 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1968	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	U.S. 1 4.54 of 5 stars 4.54 avg rating — 13 ratings — published 1938	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Orgy: An Irish Journey of Passion and Transformation by Muriel Rukeyser, Sharon Olds (Preface) 3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 avg rating — 15 ratings — published 1997	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Theory of Flight 4.5 of 5 stars 4.50 avg rating — 12 ratings	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Muriel Rukeyser

“What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life?
The world would split open.”
― Muriel Rukeyser

tags: honesty, lies, stories, truth, women

91 people liked it

“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”
― Muriel Rukeyser

tags: craft, inspirational, muriel-rukeyser, writers

91 people liked it

“No one wants to read poetry. You have to make it impossible for them to put the poem down--impossible for them to stop reading it, word after word. You have to keep them from closing the book.”
― Muriel Rukeyser

tags: muriel-rukeyser, poetcast, poetry, poets-org, sharon-olds, writing

27 people liked it

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