So this “now”
            now emerges, shadows be-fallen here,
                                               and we debate
                                                           how vast the eulogy we need.

                        —Rachel Blau DuPlessis, “The Entanglements: a representation”

The zone between the living voice
and the posthumous voice
is poetry.

                        —Rachel Blau DuPlessis, “The moon and modulations of lonely”

I am so very deeply saddened by the passing of Rachel Blau DuPlessis on September 2, 2026.[1] After hearing from her partner, Robert DuPlessis, I found myself weeping in my office for nearly a half hour last week, staggered by the magnitude of losing her. And so I wanted to write a little about how I got to know Rachel and her work, hoping it might provide a small glimpse into just how incredible a person, artist, and scholar/critic she was and the kind of massive positive effect she had on the people around her, even to someone who was only lightly connected to her.

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