She received the National Institute of Arts and Letters award and two Guggenheim Fellowships, publishing three poetry volumes by 1963.
Raised in Maryland, Rich received early encouragement from her father to write and read poetry. He set high expectations for her, which she explored in the poems “After Dark” and “Sources.” She studied at Radcliffe College, where poet W.H. Auden recognized her with the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. She received the National Institute of Arts and Letters award and two Guggenheim Fellowships, publishing three poetry volumes by 1963. She came out later in life and called her lesbianism political and personal. You can read Adrienne Rich’s work in the book Adrienne Rich: Poetry and Prose, available from publisher W.W. Norton.