Craft: Kathleen Fraser

Kathleen Fraser (1935-2019) wrote 14 books of poetry and was Professor of Creative Writing at San Francisco State University from 1972-1982. She was also the editor of the feminist / experimentalist poetry magazine HOW(ever).

Don’t let the Talbot’s/Real Estate Agent/Soccer Mom vibe in the photo fool you: Fraser was one of the most radical and experimental poets America has produced. Her poetry developed from her interest in the erasure of Modernist women when she was at the University of Iowa. 

Her work is about silence in all its implications: it stretches the reader’s assumptions about error and intention; blurs secrets and meaning; and untangles the ligatures between logic and enchantment.

Fraser in 2000: “Inside of inside / I will never drop”