Maxine Kumin Dead: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Poet Dies At 88

(from huffintonpost.com)

Maxine Kumin poses at her home in Newton, Ma., after learning she won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry on May 7, 1973. Kumin received the honor for her book of poems, "Up Country." (AP Photo) | ASSOCIATED PRESS

Maxine Kumin, a prolific New England poet and U.S. poet laureate who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 for her work "Up Country," has died. She was 88.

The Bennett Funeral Home in Concord says Kumin, who wrote more than three dozen books of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and children's literature, died Thursday at her home in Warner after a year of failing health.

Kumin was an advocate for women writers, human and political justice and animal rights. Her final work, "And Short the Season," is scheduled to be released later this year.

Born in Philadelphia, she graduated from Radcliffe College and lived for a while in Newton, Mass.

Kumin's family said her work was marked by a love and deep observation of nature and an unwavering commitment to the craft of writing.