Rachel Wetzsteon dead
 

Ernest Hilbert posted the horrible news on his Facebook page this morning. Possibly suicide. I didn't personally know Rachel, but I read her, and had the privilege of appearing with her in the formal anthology, Phoenix Rising. The link to Ernest's e-verse radio announcement:

http://everseradio.com/

What evil tidings.

Oh no. I am so deeply sorry to hear of this.

This is just awful news. I didn't know Rachel, but I certainly knew and admired her work. Sad loss to poetry.

This is terrible news. I knew Rachel from critical seminars at West Chester and she was a lovely person as well as a very fine poet. I'm sadder than I can say.

I'm stunned and saddened by this news: Rachel was lively and witty, a fine poet, with so much of her life before her, and so much talent!

I did not know her, but this is terrible and sad news.

What horrible news. I didn't know her either, but she was pretty much the same age as me, so I kept an eye on her. How terribly, terribly sad.

David R.

I am passing on information from Rachel Hadas: Rachel Wetzsteon was found dead in her apartment on Monday the 28th, though she may have died on Christmas Eve. She had apparently been in the grips of a deep depression for the past year. "There are no immediate plans for a memorial service, but it seems likely her friends will at the very least want to celebrate the posthumous publication of her book next fall. Funeral arrangements are private."

*

I did not know her as well as I would have liked, but was always delighted to run into her and exchange words and laughter at West Chester. The dark strain in the wit of her poetry seems more in evidence in recent work, though perhaps that is the bleak 20/20 of hindsight. She was a good friend of Sarah Hannah, and did the the generous afterward to her friend's posthumous volume. Rachel emphasized Sarah's life and her work rather than the circumstances of her death by suicide, and concluded: her ... "loss is inconceivable. But I'm learning to be grateful for my memories of her, and for the fact that readers who never got to meet this marvelous person can at least look forward to discovering her marvelous poems." I hope her work and life can bring some comfort--even if there can ultimately be no answers--to her friends and family over what will surely be a difficult time (indeed, lifetime) of grieving.

Such hard news. Rachel was a sharp observer of humanity. I didn't know her personally, but always enjoyed the subdued ironies of her work.

Devastating, wrenching news. Thank you so much, Alicia and Jennifer, for filling in a few of of the blanks for us. I knew Rachel by way of West Chester and a couple of other conferences, and I remember her for her warmth and her earnestness and her intrinsic likability. She will be much missed by many. (Incidentally, news of her death also appears on her Wikipedia listing.)

Yes, thanks, Alicia. Four days dead, before discovery. And at Christmastime. What a world.

I took a workshop with Rachel at the 92nd Street Y some years ago -- (I think Meredith Bergmann was in that workshop, too ...) and Rachel encouraged us to go to West Chester -- (Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing her at West Chester last year ... )
She was lovely. Smart, fun ...
Very very sad and disturbing news. What a tragedy.

No, she wasn't at West Chester last June. She had taken part in the previous two critical seminars, in 2007 and 2008, on W.H. Auden and Philip Larkin. She gave a short presentation on Larkin and happiness, of all topics. It was wonderful - witty and perceptive.

very sad news
 

Yes, along with Wendy, I studied with Rachel at the Unterberg Poetry Center in 2004. She was a lovely teacher: very smart, unflappable, serious and fun, deeply educated and able to share that with us. She was very encouraging to me as a student and welcoming to me as a poet. I remember her snort of laughter at a reading, provoked by a poem I read about varieties of worry, and her compliments on my sestina about NOT jumping off a terrace– so sad, now!

I was always struck by her bright, alert cheer and how brave it seemed. I’ll miss her a lot.