Outward

Ed Pavlić is distinguished research professor of English and African American studies at the University of Georgia. He is the author of twelve books, including, most recently, the poetry collection Let It Be Broke, the novel Another Kind of Madness, and the critical study Who Can Afford to Improvise? James Baldwin and Black Music, the Lyric and the Listeners. He also wrote Crossroads Modernism: Descent and Emergence in African-American Literary Culture (Minnesota, 2002).

• ContentsIntroduction: “How we are with each other”Charting a Radical Geography“Our words misunderstand us.”Poems toward an Aesthetics of Experience, 1951–1970“look at her closely if you dare”Feminism and a Relational Solitude, 1970–1981“solitude of no absence”The Fugitive Condition of Social Solitude, 1981–1991“so are we thrown together”Fugitive and Dissident Solitude Mobilized, 1991–2006“Voices from open air”Mutually Embodied in Radical Solitude, 2006–2012CodaAcknowledgmentsSources of QuotationsBibliographyIndex

"In Outward, Ed Pavlić uncovers new layers in Adrienne Rich’s poems as he traverses the long arc of her career. His work contemplates Rich’s engagement with the individual and the collective through a lyrical give-and-take with Rich’s poems that offers fresh insights into her poetic development, substantively furthering our understanding of one America’s foremost poets."-Jeannette E. Riley, author of Understanding Adrienne Rich"Ed Pavlić maps Adrienne Rich’s path as a citizen poet in his Outward, surveying the underpinning of this activist’s life and poetry. In this sense, Outward serves as an overlay that clarifies theories through details. Pavlić shows us the paths taken-until Rich arrives at a place called ‘radical solitude.’"-Yusef Komunyakaa, author of Everyday Mojo Songs of the Earth"Outward offers a compelling new framework for approaching Adrienne Rich's six-decade-long poetic career. In its focus on Rich's unstinting lyrical and ethico-political development, Pavlić's book offers a much-needed corrective to the scarcity of critical attention to the last three decades of Rich's writing life. At once a moving tribute to a mentor-friend and a robust critical assessment of her poetry, Outward will expand the scholarly conversation and introduce new generations of readers to the fullness of Rich's poetic legacy and her ‘radical vitality’ as one of the nation's greatest poets."-Cynthia R. Wallace, author of Of Women Borne: A Literary Ethics of Suffering"While the level of granularity make this best suited for scholars, this will nonetheless provide that crowd with a new framework for understanding the celebrated poet."-Publishers Weekly "Outward is a very important step forward for Rich scholarship, and a lively read for anyone interested in Rich’s poetry and development. "-News and Letters Committees"This excellent, gracefully written book is enhanced by the author’s personal connection to his subject. "-CHOICE