Anything That Burns You: A Portrait of Lola Ridge, Radical Poet

Anarchist, poet, activist, and feminist Lola Ridge (1873–1941) is not widely known or read in literature classrooms, though she once enjoyed success during her lifetime. Svoboda (When the Next Big War Blows Down the Valley) has created the first full-length biography of Ridge, rendering an important and well-documented read that traces Ridge's development as a poet. Ridge began writing poetry at a young age and is most recognized for The Ghetto and Other Poems (1927), which charts the difficulties of the immigrant experience. Born in New Zealand, Ridge lived there until she moved to Australia in 1903. Within four years, she would relocate to San Francisco and then to New York where she worked for anarchist Emma Goldman. Throughout this amazing story, Svoboda weaves elements of Ridge's life, including her political activism, with her poetry. The author's extensive research is revealed through notes and a lengthy bibliography of archival, Web, and print sources.