Fifteen Poems and Drafts
Presented here are fifteen previously unpublished poems by Eleanor Ross Taylor, who died on December 30, 2011. Accompanying the poems are scans of manuscript pages demonstrating that these pieces were undergoing revision. Blackbird literary editor Susan Settlemyre Williams incorporated the revisions into the poems as they are published here; the originals can be viewed by clicking the “manuscript” button upper right on each poem’s page.
Introducing the poems is “As a Writer, All Bets Were Off: A Eulogy for Eleanor Ross Taylor,” written by her son, Ross Taylor. This piece originally appeared, through the offices of Nin Andrews, as a guest post on the blog, The Best American Poetry.
From the eulogy forward, footer "next" and "previous" links will step you through the suite or allow you to back up. The draft pages are also linked next and previous in parallel to the final poems
In addition to the Fifteen Poems and Drafts suite, appearing in Features is an audio recording of “In Celebration of Eleanor Ross Taylor,” a panel tribute to the poet from the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Annual Conference in Chicago on March 2, 2012. Catherine Barnett organized the tribute with speakers Jean Valentine, Ed Skoog, Kevin Prufer, and David Wojahn.