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Quote by Laura Mullen

“Is the professor who insists we read Ernest Hemingway again instead of Gertrude Stein "obsessing"? Because although I did a BA in English, an MFA in Poetry, and a year's worth of a PhD, Stein was an author I had to discover on my own. She wasn't on the syllabus anywhere in all that time.”

Quote by Laura Mullen

Author

Laura Mullen, born in 1958, is an accomplished American poet known for her profound emotional depth and unique narrative style. Her works have been widely appreciated by readers. more

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“The failure of protection, the importance of recognizing the ways in which we influence (and infect) each other - the fact that being an "individual" can't protect you - these are issues I've been thinking about for a while.”

Thinking Way Facts Individual Issues Influence Protect Importance Protection Recognizing Protect You

Author:Laura Mullen

“"Influence" is itself influenced, coming from an Italian word for the outbreak of a disease (influenza, outbreak). Influence is that which flows across - permeates - the boundaries of the self.”

Self Influence Disease Flow Boundaries Italian Outbreaks Influenza

Author:Laura Mullen

“And Complicated Grief is a text that announces, from the start, in its citation of influence, dense intertextuality and hybridity, a failure of some apparent or usual protections, and a need to re-examine "identity" in the light of an acknowledgement of our entanglements and interdependence.”

Needs Light Grief Influence Identity Complicated Protection Usual Dense Interdependence Acknowledgement Entanglement Citations Hybridity Complicated Grief

Author:Laura Mullen

“I'm interested in finding new and more humane modes of safety, and in exposing the arbitrary and superficial protections that have failed us.”

Findings Safety Protection Superficial Arbitrary Humane Exposing

Author:Laura Mullen

“Maybe one way to think about it would be in the context of the historical development of germ theory. The problem of childbed fever was not significant until the development of a male-dominated medical establishment made possible the situation in which a professional might move from touching a corpse (for the purposes of study) to putting his unwashed hands up against, or into, a woman in labor.”

“The boundary between expert and amateur was an imposed social-cultural "protection" which actually exposed a number of women to a fatal disease, because decaying matter, as the fireman said of fire (cited in the book's final piece, "Torch Song") "ain't got no rules on it."”

Said Book Matter Song Social Numbers Fire Pieces Disease Finals Protection Boundaries Experts Exposed Torches Fireman

Author:Laura Mullen

“There's a nice clear difference between real protection (wash your hands, or wear a condom) and the fake protection offered by institutions which often come, finally and sadly, to be much too interested first of all in protecting their own power.”

Firsts Real Hands Differences Clear Nice Institutions Protection Fake Condom

Author:Laura Mullen

“Given our examination of the behavior of our police forces at this moment the question of protection has an extra resonance, yes?”

Moments Given Force Behavior Police Protection Extras Examination Resonance Police Force

Author:Laura Mullen

“It seems all "protection" has to be monitored, considered, weighed and justified - I am suggesting we do that (but it's something Mary Shelley (and Gertrude Stein) also suggest). "Torch Song," the book's final section, looks at an arson committed by someone hired to protect the wilderness from fires, a catastrophic failure of protection!”

Looks Book Seems Song Fire Protect Finals Committed Protection Wilderness Mary Sections Justified Torches Suggesting Gertrude Shelley Arson

Author:Laura Mullen

“I can tell that I shaped the book very deliberately, after a great deal of thought, and that I insisted this piece function as a prologue, but I find the word "intention," confusing ("trust the art," as D.H. Lawrence said, "not the artist"). These speculations are perhaps better responded to by text and reader, rather than author.”

Art Said I Can Book Artist Deals Pieces Reader Function Intention Confusing Speculation Prologue

Author:Laura Mullen