Clark Coolidge
Encyclopedia
Clark Coolidge is an American poet born in Providence, Rhode Island
.
Often associated with the Language School
, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop
, weather, Salvador Dalí
, Jack Kerouac
, and movies--- often finds correspondence in his work. Coolidge grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and has lived, among other places, in Manhattan
, Cambridge (MA), San Francisco, Rome
(Italy), and the Berkshire Hills . He currently lives in Petaluma, California
.
1980s
1990s
2000s & 10s
Editor
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
.
Often associated with the Language School
Language poets
The Language poets are an avant garde group or tendency in United States poetry that emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s...
, his experience as a Jazz drummer and interest in a wide array of subjects--- including caves, geology, bebop
Bebop
Bebop differed drastically from the straightforward compositions of the swing era, and was instead characterized by fast tempos, asymmetrical phrasing, intricate melodies, and rhythm sections that expanded on their role as tempo-keepers...
, weather, Salvador Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, and movies--- often finds correspondence in his work. Coolidge grew up in Providence, Rhode Island and has lived, among other places, in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, Cambridge (MA), San Francisco, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(Italy), and the Berkshire Hills . He currently lives in Petaluma, California
Petaluma, California
Petaluma is a city in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. In the 2010 Census the population was 57,941.Located in Petaluma is the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San...
.
Selected publications
1960s & '70s- Flag Flutter & U.S. Electric. (New York: Lines Books, 1966).
- (with Tom Veitch) To Obtain the Value of the Cake Measure From Zero: A Play in One Act. (San Francisco: Pants Press, 1970).
- Space. (New York: Harper & Row, 1970).
- The So: Poems 1966. (New York: Adventures in Poetry, 1971).
- Suite V. (New York: Adventures in Poetry, 1973).
- The Maintains. (San Francisco, CA: This PressThis (magazine)This is a poetry journal associated with what would later be called Language poetry because during the time span in which This was published, "many poets of the emerging Language school were represented in its pages"....
, 1974). - Polaroid. (New York: Adventures in Poetry / Bolinas, CA: Big Sky, 1975).
- Quartz Hearts (San Francisco: This Press, 1978).
- Own Face (Lenox, MA: Angel Hair Books, 1978. Reprinted Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1993).
1980s
- Smithsonian Depositions & Subject to a Film. (New York: Vehicle Editions, 1980).
- A Geology. (Needham, MA: Potes & Poets Press, 1981. Reprinted in 1988 and 1999).
- Research. (Berkeley, CA: Tuumba Press, 1982).
- Mine: The One That Enters the Stories. (Berkeley, CA: The Figures, 1982).
- Solution Passage: Poems 1978-1981. (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1986).
- The Crystal Text. (Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1986. Reprinted Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1995).
- Melencholia. (Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1987).
- At Egypt. (Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1988).
1990s
- Sound as Thought: Poems 1982-1984. (Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1990).
- (with Ron PadgettRon PadgettRon Padgett is an American poet, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School. Bean Spasms, Padget's first collection of poems, was published in 1967 and written with Ted Berrigan...
) Supernatural Overtones. (Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1990). - Odes of Roba. (Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1991).
- The Book of During. (Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1991).
- (with Philip GustonPhilip GustonPhilip Guston was a notable painter and printmaker in the New York School, which included many of the Abstract expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning...
) Baffling Means: Writings/Drawings. (Stockbridge, MA: O-blek Editions, 1991). - (with Michael GizziMichael GizziMichael Gizzi was an American poet.-Life:Michael Gizzi was born in Schenectady, New York in 1949 to Carolyn and Anthony Gizzi. He had two brothers, Peter and Thomas Gizzi...
and John YauJohn YauJohn Yau is an American poet and critic who lives in New York City. He received his B.A. from Bard College in 1972 and his M.F.A. from Brooklyn College in 1978...
) Lowell Connector: Lines & Shots from Kerouac's Town. (West Stockbridge, MA: Hard Press, 1993). - (with Larry Fagin). On the Pumice of Morons. Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1993.
- The ROVA Improvisations. Los Angeles: Sun & Moon Press, 1994.
- Registers (People in All). Avenue B, 1994 ISBN 0939691108
- For Kurt CobainKurt CobainKurt Donald Cobain was an American singer-songwriter, musician and artist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the grunge band Nirvana...
. Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 1995. - The Names. Brightlingsea, Essex: Active in Airtime, 1997.
- Now It's Jazz: Writings on Kerouac & The Sounds. Albuquerque, NM: Living Batch, 1999.
2000s & 10s
- (with Keith WaldropKeith WaldropKeith Waldrop is the author of numerous books of poetry and prose, and has translated the work of Claude Royet-Journoud, Anne-Marie Albiach, and Edmond Jabès, among others. A recent translation is Charles Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal .With his wife Rosmarie Waldrop, he co-edits Burning Deck Press...
) Bomb. New York: Granary Books, 2000. - Alien Tatters. Berkeley, CA: Atelos, 2000.
- On The Nameways, Volume 1. Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 2000.
- Far Out West: On The Nameways, Volume 2. Great Barrington, MA: The Figures, 2001.
- On the Slates. Oakland, CA: Tougher DisguisesTougher DisguisesTougher Disguises is a publisher of experimental poetry, based in San Diego, California. It was founded by poet James Meetze in 2002, publishing small letterpress editions by a pair of established poets, Peter Gizzi and Clark Coolidge....
, 2002. - Counting on Planet Zero. Wendell, MA : Fewer & Further Press, 2007.
- The Act of Providence. Qua Press, 2010
- This Time We Are Both. Ugly Duckling Press, 2010
Editor
- Heart of the Breath: Poems 1979-1992 by Jim Brody. Hard Press Editions, 1996 ISBN 978-0963843371
- Philip Guston: Collected Writings, Lectures, and Conversations. Berkeley, CA: University of California PressUniversity of California PressUniversity of California Press, also known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish books and papers for the faculty of the University of California, established 25 years earlier in 1868...
, 2010 ISBN 978-0520257160
External links
- CLARK COOLIDGE'S VISUAL ARTS INTERTEXTS 1968-1976 transcription of a talk by Tom Orange
- Clark Coolidge Homepage @ the Electronic Poetry Center
- From Notebooks (1976-1982) from Code of Signals, edited by Michael PalmerMichael PalmerMichael Palmer is an American poet and translator. He attended Harvard University where he earned a BA in French and a MA in Comparative Literature. He has worked extensively with Contemporary dance for over thirty years and has collaborated with many composers and visual artists...
(PDF file at Duration Press, pages 43–56) - Clark Coolidge Feature @ Jacket Magazine features poems, essays, interviews
- Clark Coolidge on Jack Kerouac
- "Add-Verse" a poetry-photo-video project Coolidge participated in
- Clark Coolidge as Literary Critic In this piece, Ron SillimanRon SillimanRon Silliman is an American poet. He has written and edited over 30 books, and has had his poetry and criticism translated into 12 languages. He is often associated with language poetry. Between 1979 and 2004, Silliman wrote a single poem, The Alphabet...
notes that Coolidge has produced "the finest critical writing I’ve ever read on Kerouac’s work". - Review of Clark Coolidge's This Time We Are Both.