TELL ME A RIDDLE

A century after her birth, Tillie Olsen's award-winning writings are newly available in an expanded collection.

This best-known work of Tillie Olsen, winner of the O.Henry Award and one of the most iconic feminist writers of the last century, is published in a new edition, together with a never before seen story – “Requa” – and several of her other famous pieces. In “Tell Me a Riddle” and the famous “I Stand Here Ironing,” these stories, as in all of her work, Olsen set a new standard for the treatment of women and the poor and for the depiction of their lives and circumstances. In her hands, the hard truths about motherhood and marriage, domestic life, labor, and political conviction found expression in language of such poetic intensity and depth that its influence continues to be felt today. An introduction by Olsen's granddaughter, the poet Rebekah Edwards, and a foreword by her daughter Laurie Olsen provide a personal and generational context for the author's work. TILLIE OLSEN (1912–2007) was an activist, feminist, award-winning author, and teacher who won nine honorary degrees. She is the author of Yonondio: From the Thirties and Silences, and was editor of Mother to Daughter, Daughter to Mother: Mothers on Mothering.