PORTRAITS OF POETS

April is National Poetry Month!

And in honor of the monthlong celebration, American photographer Jill Krementz has created this beautiful Photo Journal of the poets she has photographed across her career: Celebrating National Poetry Month.

Jill’s career as a photographer and author spans decades and 31 books, with a significant focus on political activism and, later, writers and poets. She was married to Kurt Vonnegut until his passing in 2007, and he wrote the Preface for her 1980 book, The Writer’s Image: Literary Portraits, featuring black and white portraits similar to the ones included in this current Photo Journal for New York Social Diary.

My favorite photograph of Krementz’s in this Journal is the 1968 photo, above, of Anne Sexton and Galway Kinnell, whose voices have influence so many writers, including myself. My parents gave me a copy of Anne Sexton’s Collected Works for Christmas when I was 12 years old, and Anne’s unflinching eye and unwavering commitment to voice the truth of her life gave me permission to do the same in my own writing as it developed. Here’s to the poets whose voices speak to us, hold us and uplift us as we enter April and National Poetry Month.

ALL PEACE TO YOU. DORA