Jane Hirshfield has long been concerned in her work with the intersections of human contemplation and the natural world in poems of shimmering clarity and lyrical brilliance. She has become an urgent voice for the shared future of the planet through her work with Poets for Science and through continuing to explore in her writing the ecological and spiritual complexity of life on Earth. A poet, translator, editor, and essayist, she is the author of nine books of poetry, most recently Ledger (Knopf, 2020).
Jane has been a part of the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference for many years; indeed, she knew conference founder and Napa Valley College faculty member Dave Evans from a UC Berkeley Extension workshop before the founding of the conference itself. Many of the essays in her two books on the craft of poetry, Nine Gates and Ten Windows, began as craft talks at Napa. As poetry program director Nan Cohen has observed, “Jane’s steadiness and generosity as a teacher, her insight as a craft lecturer, and the general luminosity of her presence have all become legendary at the conference.”
Read a poem by Jane Hirshfield: “Invitation” in the July/August 2022 issue of The Atlantic
Essential Viewing: Enjoy this short video from the Academy of American Poets of Jane speaking about the responsibility of poets and poetry. You can also search online for longer videos of Jane’s readings and discussions.
