“Literary history and the present are dark with silences . . . I have had special need to learn all I could of this over the years, myself so nearly remaining mute and having to let writing die over and over again in me. These are not natural silences--what Keats called agonie ennuyeuse (the tedious agony)--that necessary time for renewal, lying fallow, gestation, in the natural cycle of creation. The silences I speak of here are unnatural: the unnatural thwarting of what struggles to come into being, but cannot.”
Quote by Tillie Olsen
Author
Tillie Olsen
Tillie Olsen (January 14, 1912 – January 1, 2007) was an American writer, feminist activist, and social critic. She is best known for her short story collection Tell Me a Riddle and her essay Silences, which focus on working-class women, motherhood, and the silences imposed on artistic creation. Born to Jewish immigrant parents in Omaha, Nebraska, Olsen left school at age 15 due to poverty and worked various manual jobs. Her writing career began late, but her profound depictions of marginalized lives made her a significant voice in 20th-century American literature. Her work influenced feminist literary criticism and inspired many women writers. more
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