Lyn Lifshin's Website

Celebrating the Life of Lyn Lifshin

Lyn Lifshin of Niskayuna, NY passed away on December 9, 2019 at the home of her friend Albert Jordan in Vienna, VA following illness and a fall. Lyn was a poet who had written over 130 books and chapbooks and edited four anthologies of women writers. Her poems have appeared in most poetry and literary magazines. She has given more than 700 readings across the USA and has appeared at Dartmouth and Skidmore colleges, Cornell University, the Shakespeare Library, Whitney Museum and Huntington Library. Lyn also taught poetry at the University of Rochester, Antioch, and Colorado Mountain College. Winner of numerous awards including the Jack Kerouac Award, she is the subject of the documentary film “Lyn Lifshin: Not Made of Glass.” For her dedication to the small presses which first published her, and for managing to survive on her own apart from any academic institution, she has earned the distinction “Queen of the Small Presses.”

Perhaps it was Robert Frost who helped launch her lifetime of poetry when in her childhood he complemented her poetry. She has also been praised by Ken Kesey and Richard Eberhart, and Ed Sanders has seen her as “a modern Emily Dickinson.” She recently was named a Literary Legend by the Albany NY Public Library Foundation. She also developed a passion for dancing-ballet, ballroom and Argentine tango. A celebration of her life is being planned in Schenectady, NY for June 6, 2020. Details are still being worked out. In order to help us plan, please send expressions of interest in the celebration of life to [email protected]. When the details are finalized, we will respond to those expressing an interest. Also, you may send remembrances to [email protected].

Bio Notes

Lyn Lifshin has written more than 125 books and edited 4 anthologies of women writers. Her poems have appeared in most poetry and literary magazines in the U.S.A, and her work has been included in virtually every major anthology of recent writing by women. She has given more than 700 readings across the U.S.A. and has appeared at Dartmouth and Skidmore colleges, Cornell University, the Shakespeare Library, Whitney Museum, and Huntington Library. Read more

Celebrating the Life of Lyn Lifshin

Bio Notes

Books

Lost Horses

Hitchcock Hotel

Desire

Knife Edge & AbsintheThe Tango Poems

Little Dancer — The Degas Poems

Ballroom