truth, art, and the poetry of Elizabeth Jennings

Over the last several weeks, I have been reading quite a lot of Elizabeth Jennings poetry, and it never fails to strike me as at once hopeful and tortured.

So much of her work is deeply introspective--delving into her own past and her need to be alone with it as well as her yearning for community and friendship. Through it all, of course, she remained a devout Catholic, and this not only shapes her understanding of the demons that haunt the dark recesses of her mind, but also formulates her response to them.

Something about her work is especially resonant with me now--I don't think I would have enjoyed reading her before the pandemic!--when my own poems have taken a similar turn.

In any case, here are the sources I mentioned today, as well as some general stuff about her life.

Today's poem, "Chinese Art"

A selection of Jennings poems: https://allpoetry.com/Elizabeth-Jennings

"The Life and Mystery of Poet Elizabeth Jennings" is a great introductory article by Analeah Rosen published on the Washington University in St. Louis Library website. https://library.wustl.edu/the-life-and-mystery-of-poet-elizabeth-jennings/

A short bio of Jennings from the Poet Archive, with recordings of Jennings reading two of her own poems. It's always wonderful to hear an artist read their own work: https://poetryarchive.org/poet/elizabeth-jennings/

An article from The Catholic World Report on Jennings and religion: https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/03/24/elizabeth-jennings-and-the-poetry-of-faith/

If you are really interested in seeing her manuscripts, you can contact the archive that houses her collection of papers here: http://archon.wulib.wustl.edu/index.php?p=collections/controlcard&id=911&q=elizabeth+jennings