In this crazy and beautiful world we have to measure what we do and how in order to put joy into it. Our intention is always conveyed. I believe it is our prime message. Let it be for peace. Some of these books are called "wonder books" because they abandon rules and because the transform their readers. Some writers who do this well: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Kenneth Patchen, Jonathan Safran Foer. Who would you add? Here's an image of Kenneth Patchen working on his painted books. He found all sorts of ways to get the word out.
13 comments:
well, larry, we'd have to throw down jack kerouac. also tom robbins and j.d. salinger, if we're talking writers who abandon the rules. james joyce? certainly. i love to read an author who is not only telling a story, but telling it his or her way. there is a distinct lack of female voices that explore that territory. who can you think of?
let us not forget of course daryl allen levy. one of the poems that really opened me up to understand the possibities of the spoken word was "roses that (for gene)"...wow... levy's use of repitition here is blasphemously unconventional in style, not to mention painfully visceral and direct. how can you not mentally envision the stock footage of bombs falling on villages and the human suffering poured out through the climbing refrains? and to actually hear this poem performed by levy is enough to bring tears to the eyes.
Okay, some women writers of wonder books... How do we look at this? Tillie Olsen wrote books that changed people and their views of things by witnessing a working-class life for women and children. Her TELL ME A RIDDLE and her YONNONDIO are strikingly short and real. I compare her with Dorothea Lang's whose photographs opened eyes gained by her ability to become intimate with her subjects.
Poets: Emily Dickinson certainly opened our eyes in such an original way. Denise Levertov transformed writing and herself and the world. That's a start.
As for women, I'd have to go with Lenore Kandel. It's amazing for us who weren't there, that a little 4 page pamphlet with 8 poems could spark such controversy and generally offend so many people. She was prosecuted for obscenity right up there with Ginsberg, Burroughs, Ferlinghetti, Bruce to name a few.
Kenneth Patchen is the main man here, creating an image of the poet-artist that stands through time. Rebel-Poet Kenneth Patchen.
Check out this new web page dedicated to him. http://members.aol.com/smithcours/Patchen/KennethPatchenPlaces.htm
REBEL-POETS
Here is a list of qualities of the rebel poets and a list of some main examples beginning with William Blake and coming to America: Portrait of a Rebel Poet: General Characteristics / Roles
by Larry Smith
Working-class youth/
Family values of religious rule and quest for wealth--Rebellion evolves/
Rebellion with Educational and Social Institutions/
Well guarded independence, strong will, vivid imagination/
Reborn—Finds identity in Writing and Art/
Often sees self as a social outsider—observer-critic role/
Witnesses social injustices and war
Vision that writing and art matter—can change the world--Creates new forms/
Works to “get the word out”—for self and others:
writing, printing, and publishing, public readings/
Risks censor— Stretches social norms—becomes a target/
Sacrifices for vision—passionate and engaged/
May join with others in revolt:
Bohemians—Leftists—Beats—Cleveland Mimeograph Revolution/
Censorship may come from society (courts)—publishing world—
other groups of writers—academia//
Examples
Walt Whitman/ Emily Dickinson/ Henry David Thoreau
Arthur Rimbaud--French Surrealists—Paul Eluard
Kenneth Rexroth--Kenneth Patchen—Kenneth Fearing
Charles Olsen—Meridel Leseur –Muriel Rukeyser—Denise Levertov
Allen Ginsberg / Lawrence Ferlinghetti / Ed Sanders
Diane DiPrima/ Leroi Jones(Amiri Baraka)/ Anne Waldman
Gary Snyder--d.a.levy … Others
What about Sonia Sanchez?
Also, what about early hip-hop pioneers, such as Rakem, KRS-One and Public Enemy?
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He probably doesn't like to be labeled, but I would add Kell Robertson to my list of favorite rebel poets. He is one of my idols. The man can make a trip to the outhouse lyrical. Now that's talent. I must confess I'm biased toward his working class "themes" due to my own po-girl background. But Kell just kicks ass.
There are so many others I would add. As for women writers, how about Flannery O'Connor? One of the greatest things about her writing is that sense of androgyny in her word choice. When I read her short stories, I don't feel as if I'm reading a "woman writer." I just feel as if I'm reading a strong writer who has an amazing command of syntax, irony and dark, comic timing. I love to read her work to study the actual nuts and bolts of how her words are placed.
Women writers sometimes dwell too much on what it means to be female. (Okay, ladies. Please don't hang me for saying that. I'm a woman, too). I just mean that it's refreshing to read writing by a woman whose words are like muddy boots stomping across the page.
I just stumbled on this site. You've done an excellent job! It's nice to read the opinions of other poets and writers. Thank you very much!
-Julie Buffaloe-Yoder
Should it be a chase of names after an article for inspiration? The names must dissolve into the effort. Those poets would weep.
Oh, anonymous, there is so much more to lament than our foolish name searching. Take a breath and move on with your life. Larry
Ayn Rand is one woman writer that is amazing. Men and women alike are still picking up her novels, "Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead", even after all this time. Each generation of readers find her novels intriguing and thought-provoking. She may not be a poet, but her words still ring true, if only for me. Her background is that of a Russian native; English was not her first language and yet her command of English is superb. Now, she is an author!
What's wrong with a chase of names? I have enjoyed looking up and reading the work of some names mentioned on this site. In the plastic world of the internet, it's nice to find people who are talking about poetry and literature.
And I doubt those poets mentioned would weep. Otherwise, we would all publish our work anonymously, and no darkly contemplative photographs of poets and writers would ever grace the dust jackets of books. The name never truly dissolves into the work. -Julie (again)
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