Prose, Poetry and the Art of the Political
For many decades, Antjie Krog and Adrienne Rich have been at the forefront of the dissident tradition within their respective language worlds, writing poetry and prose that pushes the limits of form while questioning the structures of political violence in which they live. Both are among the most lauded writers of their generation, receiving acclaim and prizes around the world despite but also because of their insistent critique of the status quo. Both have created works of inimitable beauty and force. Both have championed justice and equality, and each woman has read and admired the works of the other across the miles and oceans.
Antjie Krog has published 14 volumes of poetry, two of which are in English. She has also worked as a journalist and translator. She is best known for her account of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Country of My Skull. Down to My Last Skin, her first collection of poetry in English won the inaugural 2000 FNB Vita Poetry Award. Among her many other awards are the Eugene Marais Prize, the Dutch/Flemish Reina Prinsen-Geerligs Prize, the Rapport Prize for best literary work in a particular year, and the Hertzog Prize for the best poetry volume over three years. For her journalistic work Krog has received the Pringle Award as well as the Foreign Correspondent Award and has been honored by the Hiroshima Peace Foundation. She has also been the recipient of the Sunday Times Alan Paton Award.
One of America’s most distinguished poets, Adrienne Rich has published more than sixteen volumes of poetry and four books of nonfiction prose. Rich’s work has achieved international recognition and has been translated into German, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Hebrew, Greek, Italian, and Japanese. She has received numerous awards, fellowships, and prizes, including the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize, the Lenore Marshall/Nation Prize for Poetry, the Fund for Human Dignity Award of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Lambda Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Poetry, the National Book Award, the Poet’s Prize, the MacArthur Fellowship, and, most recently, the Dorothea Tanning Prize of the Academy of American Poets and the Lannan Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sponsored by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, the Institute for Comparative Literature, the Heyman Center for the Humanities, and Barnard Women Poets, with additional support from the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the Department of English, the Center for Literary Translation, and the Dutch Language Program of the Department of Germanic Languages.
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