Wild Iris by Louise Gluck

This week American Louise Gluck was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature for her body of work, which includes 12 volumes of poetry. Previously, she won the Pulitzer in 1993 and served as the Poetry Laureate of the United States from 2003-4. The last American to win this Nobel prize was Bob Dylan in 2016. When giving her the award, the Nobel committee praised Gluck “for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal.” Her poems tend to be short, but extremely powerful, honest and true. The committee mentioned one of her books in particular: “Wild Iris,” first published in 1993. This book tackles the themes of time and mortality. One of the most famous poems in the collection is called “Snowdrops,” which is only 14 lines long. However, within those 14 lines is a story that metaphorically is pages long and filled with everything from fear and loss to joy and survival. There are other wonderful poems in this collection as well such as “Sunset,” “The Golden Lilly” and “Matins,” the last being about a service of morning prayer. As I was reading about the poet, I came across an interesting little fact about her. She thought in the beginning that a writer should just right, and not have another job. She believed a writer needed concentration and focus. But eventually, when she started teaching, she realized the opposite: It is important for a writer to have another job, so she can experience living while writing. Gluck is currently the adjunct professor and Rosenkranz Writer in Residence at Yale University. To buy this book on Amazon click here.