Lyn Hejinian, 1941-2024
April 8, 2024 10:26 AM Subscribe
Excerpts from Lyn Hejinian's My Life: "A name trimmed with colored ribbons"; "Reason looks for two, then arranges it from there"; "As for we who 'love to be astonished'"; "Yet we insist that life is full of happy chance"; "One begins as a student but becomes a friend of clouds." Lisa Samuels, "Eight justifications for canonizing Lyn Hejinian's My Life." "The Rejection of Closure," "Continuing Against Closure," and other work online. Obits: NYT (ungated / archived), Jacket2, and The Nation. Remembrances: Berkeley English, LARB, and The Paris Review. Colin Vanderburg (n+1, Apr. 5), "Tree, Chair, Cone, Dog, Bishop, Piano, Vineyard, Door, or Penny: On Lyn Hejinian": "There is no better way to end, or to begin, or to continue. The facts are finished, but the life is still open."
Oh no she was one of my faves. Never had the pleasure of taking a class with her but did get to hear her speak once.
posted by juv3nal at 2:12 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]
posted by juv3nal at 2:12 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]
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She was either the first or second Language Poet whose work I encountered, and I just had so much reading her stuff. It encouraged me to keep seeking out poetry which stretched the possibilities of meaning and expression, and I’ve had lots of happy times along the way. I’m glad she got a long life, and was appreciated in her time.
Also, I really should go find at least a couple more of her books to read, she wrote a heck of a lot.
posted by Kattullus at 2:12 PM on April 8 [3 favorites]
She was either the first or second Language Poet whose work I encountered, and I just had so much reading her stuff. It encouraged me to keep seeking out poetry which stretched the possibilities of meaning and expression, and I’ve had lots of happy times along the way. I’m glad she got a long life, and was appreciated in her time.
Also, I really should go find at least a couple more of her books to read, she wrote a heck of a lot.
posted by Kattullus at 2:12 PM on April 8 [3 favorites]
Oh, no.
.
I sometimes found her ideas on language, poetry, and translation impenetrable, yet, they were always inspiring.
See ya, Lyn. Thanks
posted by coolxcool=rad at 2:57 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]
.
I sometimes found her ideas on language, poetry, and translation impenetrable, yet, they were always inspiring.
See ya, Lyn. Thanks
posted by coolxcool=rad at 2:57 PM on April 8 [1 favorite]
I first read My Life in 2010, for a class, and graphed the repetitions in the book, to try to understand the book better. "The obvious analogy is with music": X-axis is section number; Y-axis is number of sentences in the section.
posted by what does it eat, light? at 10:40 AM on April 9 [4 favorites]
posted by what does it eat, light? at 10:40 AM on April 9 [4 favorites]
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posted by Hypocrite_Lecteur at 11:35 AM on April 8