Louise Glück, 1943–2023
“Photo: © Katherine Wolkoff”
It is with great sorrow that we announce that the extraordinary poet Louise Glück died on October 13th. Louise, who taught for almost twenty years at Williams College, leaves an extraordinary legacy—she published thirteen books of poetry, two collections of essays, and, most recently, a hybrid work she called “a fiction.” Her accolades included the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and, in 2020, the Nobel Prize for Literature. She was also a dedicated teacher, a generous editor, and a beloved colleague. She will be greatly missed.
We will hold a memorial for Louise on November 13th from 4pm to 5pm in Sawyer Library Reading Room. All are welcome to attend.
The Night Migrations
This is the moment when you see again
the red berries of the mountain ash
and in the dark sky
the birds’ night migrations.
It grieves me to think
the dead won’t see them—
these things we depend on,
they disappear.
What will the soul do for solace then?
I tell myself maybe it won’t need
these pleasures anymore;
maybe just not being is simply enough,
hard as that is to imagine.
Megamenu Social