An Introduction to Regan Good by Laura Cronk


“When thoughts are left without a body to animate them, marks on
the paper indicate someone was here. Here is the place where two
kinds of time intersect, moments successive and moments infinite.”
from Saskia Hamilton’s poem “Entrances and Exits to the Auditorium”

The literary world is mourning the loss of Saskia Hamilton, poet, editor, professor at Barnard College, who died at 56 earlier this year. Her final book, All Souls, was rushed into print in time for her to hold galley copies in her hands. Everyone who admires her brilliant, precise, and sensitive poems owes a debt to the work of her editor at Graywolf, Jeff Shotts, and those who encouraged the writing and compiling of this final book.

Within the community of people mourning Saskia’s death are a number of dear friends who are grieving in a very personal way. Regan Good is one of these poet friends.

I’ve known Regan for a number of years. I can’t remember exactly when we met, though I know we sat next to each other in Geoffrey Nutter’s apartment during one of his incredible generative writing classes. I didn’t know Saskia Hamilton beyond hearing her poems and admiring her warm and attentive presence at readings, but I feel I’ve gotten to know her in a sense through Regan. After Saskia’s death, Regan began to share paintings she made in the days and weeks after the loss of her beloved friend.

It has been a gift to witness the accumulation of these paintings, this transition in Regan’s own life as a poet and artist, and this profound moment in an artistic friendship, one that carries on despite death. Tupelo Quarterly is grateful to publish some of the paintings that Regan has made over the past six months along with a reflection from her about the process.

Regan Good attended Barnard College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she was a Maytag Fellow. She has held multiple residencies at MacDowell, Yaddo, The Fine Arts Work Center, Ucross, VCCA and Ragdale. She has published two books of poems, The Atlantic House (2011), and The Needle (2020). She teaches at the Pratt School of Architecture and Barnard College. She is currently a Contributing Editor at Interim, and lives in Brooklyn.