Selected Poems 1965-1990

by Marilyn Hacker

Here is a rich collection of work from five books by one of America's most controversial poets. Marilyn Hacker's poems have been praised for their technical virtuosity, forthright feminism, political acuity, and unabashed eroticism. Included are selections from Hacker's first book, Presentation Piece (1974), the Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets and a National Book Award Winner; Separations (1976); Taking Notice (1980), which was claimed as an integral part of the burgeoning feminist and lesbian canon; Assumptions (1985), which explored the conundrums of gender, race, and identity in contemporary life; and Going Back to the River (1990), which received a Lambda Literary Award.

Genres: Poetry

Paperback

First published October 17, 1994

About the author

Marilyn Hacker is an American poet, translator, critic, and professor of English.

Her books of poetry include Presentation Piece (1974), which won the National Book Award, Love, Death, and the Changing of the Seasons (1986), and Going Back to the River (1990). In 2009, Hacker won the PEN Award for Poetry in Translation for King of a Hundred Horsemen by Marie Étienne, which also garnered the first Robert Fagles Translation Prize from the National Poetry Series. In 2010, she received the PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry. She was shortlisted for the 2013 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation for her translation of Tales of A Severed Head by Rachida Madani.

Reviews

[ambyr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hacker is a master at formal verse; there are sestinas and sonnet cycles here that sucked me in so deeply, I didn't notice the structure until the final line. The rhythm of the language drew me in. But the content rarely touched me. For a collection of personal poems, it felt very much like everything was being shown through an opaque veil.

[Kate]

"Girls love a sick child or a healthy animal.
A man who's both itches them like an incubus."
- From "She Bitches About Boys"

Good stuff; I need to read more someday.

[Katie Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great book of queer poetry!

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perverse, erotic, and sometimes damning poetry. Hacker plays the lover, mother, daughter, stalker role all in one. Her collection reveals what a woman's identity can do: shapeshift, question, and shapeshift again.

[Margo Solod · Rating 4 out of 5]

while i do get tired of hacker in large chunks, possibly because she starts to sound "one-note" to me.
but her command and use of form is quite astounding, as is the way(like molly peacock) she has taken the sonnet back fro the boys and made it her own.

[Bernadette · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://rantsravesreviews.homestead.co...

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't feeling it, though I heard "Billy the kid did what he did then he died."