Jane Cooper

For her five volumes of poetry over the course of her career, Jane Cooper (19242007) was deeply admired by her contemporaries, and teaching at Sarah Lawrence College for nearly forty years, she served as a mentor to many aspiring poets. Her elegant, honest, and emotionally and formally precise poems, often addressing the challenges of womens livesespecially the lives of women in the artscontinue to resonate with a new generation of readers. Martha Collins and Celia Bland bring together several decades worth of essential writing on Coopers poetry. While some pieces offer close examination of Coopers process or thoughtful consideration of the craft of a single poem, the volume also features reviews of her collections, including a previously unpublished piece on her first book, The Weather of Six Mornings (1969), by James Wright, a lifelong champion of her work. Marie Howe, Jan Heller Levi, and Thomas Lux, among others, share personal remembrances of Cooper as a teacher, colleague, and inspiration. L. R. Bergers moving tribute to Coopers final days closes the volume. This book has much to offer for both readers who already love Coopers work and new readers, especially among younger poets, just discovering her enduring poems.