Anything That Burns You

“Svoboda resurrects the fascinating life and work of Lola ridge. A lively, complex portrait emerges...of a talented, driven woman for whom ‘art and activism were one’ and who deserves remembrance not just as ‘a fulcrum for modernism’ but as a premier poet in her own right."—Publisher's Weekly

In Anything That Burns You Terese Svoboda entertainingly parses the enigmatic life and powerful writing of Lola Ridge, an immigrant who burned for many years as a vital force among American artists challenging the 'socially acceptable' limits of both literature and human behavior. A story of prejudice, ambition and personal struggle, with Ridge's long-neglected talent shining through it all.

—John Sayles, Two time Academy Award nominated writer, director, novelist

ANYTHING THAT BURNS YOU tells the riveting story of Lola Ridge, a revolutionary and influential poet of her time, now (like so many female artists) lost to history. Terese Svoboda has written a brilliant biography, as original as it is compelling, and a fascinating exploration of literary legacy. Why don't more people read Lola Ridge? She was talented and driven, well-published, outrageously brave, boldly feminist, and caught at the center of major 20th-century political and artistic movements. A poet herself, Svoboda's insights are startling and apt, and she constructs a colorful, well-researched background for re-considering Ridge's considerable achievements. We need more books like this one.
––Rene Steinke Novelist and 2005 National Book Award nominee for HOLY SKIRTS

Radical, modernist, fiery, glamorous, feminist— adjectives and categories can only gesture toward the enduringly significant life and works of the poet Lola Ridge, whose story has been gracefully told, with her poems lucidly understood, by Terese Svoboda.

—Robert Pinsky, former Poet Laureate Consultant to the Library of Congress

This is the biography of Lola Ridge many of us have been waiting for. Elegantly and accessibly written, thoroughly researched, it gives us everything we need to recover this extraordinarily versatile writer. Ridge was at the center of American modernism for years, not only as a writer but also as an editor and a political activist. No one who cares about American culture will want to miss this book.”

—Cary Nelson, Editor of Anthology Of Modern American Poetry (Oxford 2014)