Friday, August 3, 2007

Elisavietta Ritchie Biography


Elisavietta Ritchie was born to Russian immigrants in 1932. Her life has been filled with many varied and interesting experiences, many of which have inspired her writings. She has studied in Paris, New York, and California. She has written several books of short stories and poetry. Her works have also been published in numerous text books, newspaper, magazines, and other periodicals. She is married to Clyde Farnsworth, a novelist and former correspondent for the New York Times. The poem, “Sorting Laundry,” was actually written by Ritchie when she was debating whether or not she should marry Farnsworth. She has two sons, a daughter, and two step sons. Besides writing, her interests include Buddhism, tennis, marine and wildlife conservation, and marine biology. At the present time, Ritchie lives in Maryland and is working novel, as well as, making progress on new works of poetry (Chen). “Sorting Laundry” was written in first person and the poem take places as the author is folding laundry and comparing the simple chore to her relationship with her lover, to whom the poem is written. The poem moves in and out of metaphorical comparisons of love and laundry to imaginative and amusing observations of everyday life.

1 comment:

elisavietta said...

Thank you, Lizzie!

Elisavietta herself

Oh, and if you can, change "Russian immigrant" to "Russian emigre".
"Immigrants" came here for economic reasons, "emigre" because they go into exile for political reasons. In this case, thousands left Russia during and after the Revolution of 1917, and while many, such as my father, started at the bottom of the economic ladder (he worked in an auto body repair shop while preparing to work his way through Yale), they considered themselves "exiles." Part snobbery, I suspect, but political exiles from many countries think of themselves thus.