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Tess Gallagher

Tess Gallagher

Tess Gallagher

Born: 21 July 1943

Poet, essayist, novelist, and playwright Tess Gallagher was born on July 21, 1943, in Port Angeles, Washington. Gallagher is the author of eleven books of poetry. Her first collection of poems, Instructions to the Double (Graywolf Press, 1976), won the 1976 Elliston Book Award for “best book of poetry published by a small press.” In 1984, she published Willingly (Graywolf Press), which consists of poems written to and about her third husband, writer Raymond Carver, who died in 1988. Other collections include Is, Is Not (Graywolf Press, 2019), winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award; Dear Ghosts (Graywolf Press, 2006); My Black Horse: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, 1995); Owl-Spirit Dwelling (Trask House Books, 1995); and Moon Crossing Bridge (Graywolf Press, 1992). (Source)

Poems by Tess Gallagher

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The Hug by Tess Gallagher

"Love – that’s what we’re talking about, love / that nabs you with “for me / only” and holds on." – Tess Gallagher
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Conversation with a Fireman from Brooklyn by Tess Gallagher

"isn’t it too bad, to be despised / for what you do to prove yourself" – Tess Gallagher
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Unanswered Letter by Tess Gallagher

"So what is unanswered keeps you coming back / to yourself, telling you what you wanted / only when it didn't come" – Tess Gallagher
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I Stop Writing the Poem by Tess Gallagher

"Nothing can stop / our tenderness." – Tess Gallagher