Poems

by Yvonne Rainer, Tim Griffin (Introduction)

Previously unpublished poetry from one of the America’s greatest living artists From her work in dance and choreography to her films and writings, Yvonne Rainer (born 1934) has established herself as one of the America’s greatest living artists. This first collection of her poems, which were written from the late 1990s onwards and have never before been published, affirms her ability to endow words with corporeality, propulsion and swift-moving narrative. Full of wit and candor, Rainer’s poems evoke the rhythm of an urban landscape peopled with old friends and colleagues, trying to make art or simply trying to make ends meet. Memories entangle with news headlines and conversations overheard on the subway, making the poems feel both intimate yet social. Accompanying the poems is a selection of black-and-white images curated by Rainer, varying from news clippings to intimate photographs from Rainer’s personal archive. Poet and critic Tim Griffin contributes an introduction.

Genres: Poetry

71 pages, Paperback

First published July 24, 2011

About the author

Yvonne Rainer was born in San Francisco in 1934. She trained as a modern dancer in New York and was one of the founders of the Judson Dance Theater in l962, a movement that proved to be a vital force in modern dance and art in the following decades. Since 1972, Rainer has completed seven feature-length films. She has received numerous awards and fellowships for her work, including two Guggenheim Fellowships (1969, 1988), a MacArthur Fellowship (1990-95), and a Wexner Prize (1995). A memoir, Feelings are Facts: a Life, was published in 2006.

Reviews

[Daniel Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

To all of these champions
I offer a toast
from here to eternity
we’ve only to coast