Idiosyncrasy and Technique: A Conversation with Linda Leavell about the Gender, Sexuality, and Celebrity of Marianne Moore, One of America’s Best-Loved Poets
Modernist poet Marianne Moore was a national celebrity in the mid-20th century—a status she achieved through an effort at self-fashioning grounded in her authorial achievements, but shaped by the rich media landscape in post-war America. Moore’s entire adult life and career were influenced by difficult family relationships. In this episode of The Rosenbach Podcast, join host Dr. Alexander L. Ames and acclaimed Moore biographer Linda Leavell, author of Hanging On Upside Down: The Life and Work of Marianne Moore, for a fascinating discussion of this complex cultural figure. Doctors Ames and Leavell discuss Moore’s family life, her approach to poetry, the fame she achieved relatively late in life—and why this iconic poet deserves our attention today. Leavell also describes her experiences doing extensive historical and literary research at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, and why collecting institutions like the Rosenbach matter for the flourishing of American society in the 21st century.
