Heather McHugh
How nice when the arbiters of taste and genius align themselves with my way of seeing the world. The MacArthur Genius Grant recipients have just been announced, and a well deserved award goes to poet Heather McHugh.
Her fabulous poem, Coming, was posted here on Slow Muse in June of 2008.
Here’s what the New Yorker wrote about her winning:
What we poetry readers have known for a long time has been officially announced to the world: Heather McHugh is a genius. McHugh, whose latest poem in The New Yorker, “Hackers Can Sidejack Cookies,” is included in her forthcoming collection “Upgraded to Serious,” wrote to me about her reaction to the news, her vow of silence, and her new label:
How do I feel about the word “genius”? Bottled.
They called me about a week before and made me swear not to tell anyone anything until today.
I was so flabbergasted every last wit deserted my head. (And so far my wits haven’t managed to make much of a home in my heart. So god knows where they are.)