I was saddened today to learn of the death of Sandra Gilbert, and then I was surprised to find out how old she was when she died (87!). Don't get me wrong--I'm happy that she had a long life. But in my head, she's been a young scholar, the way she was when I first read about her and Susan Gubar becoming friends during their first teaching jobs at Indiana University in the early 1970's.
I remember how electrified I was when I first read The Madwoman in the Attic, back when I was first in grad school; I will always be grateful to Gilbert and Gubar for that book, along with their editing of the Norton Anthology of Literature by Women: The Tradition in English. I also loved Gilbert's poetry.
And while I'm on the subject of losing literary greats, let me also note the passing of Dorothy Allison, who was 75 when she died. I was familiar with her work even before Bastard Out of Carolina; I'll always think of her as the young writer, struggling to figure out how to make a way in the world that didn't particularly care about voices like hers: poor, female, lesbian, Southerner moved to San Francisco. Her voice seemed important for the reason that there hadn't many voices like hers that won awards before she came along.
And even now, there aren't many voices like hers getting published through traditional publishing venues and winning awards.
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