Joe Cardarelli
Encyclopedia
Joe Cardarelli was a poet, painter, graduate of the Johns Hopkins
Writing Seminars, and teacher of writing at the Maryland Institute College of Art
for 27 years. Cardarelli pushed generations of MICA artists to incorporate writing into their creative repertoire, and regularly collaborated with his faculty colleagues on projects and performances. He is noted for establishing poetry series such as the Black Mountain poets
, St. Valentine’s Day Poetry Marathon, and the Spectrum of Poetic Fire at MICA. In its 25th year, the Spectrum of Poetic Fire reading series still brings quality poets to MICA’s campus for readings during the academic year.
In his “Black Mountain Poets” series in 1983/84 he gathered material for a documentary video, Black Mountain Revisited — a historically invaluable collage of interviews and readings given by Robert Duncan
, Robert Creeley
, Edward Dorn, Joel Oppenheimer
, and Jonathan Williams
— in the case of Duncan and Oppenheimer, some of their last readings on record. Over the years, Allen Ginsberg
, Amiri Baraka
, Ted Berrigan
, Alice Notley
, Anne Waldman
, Maureen Owen, Ed Sanders
, and many other representative writers of The New American Poetry were frequent visitors to the Institute — thanks to Joe Cardarelli.
Known as the “Godfather of Baltimore
Poetry,” he died at the age of 50 in 1994.
A poem that Joe contributed to Andrei Codrescu
’s and Laura Rosenthal’s anthology American Poets Say Goodbye to the Twentieth Century (New York, 4 Walls 8 Windows, 1996) ends with the following lines:
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
Writing Seminars, and teacher of writing at the Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art
Maryland Institute College of Art is an art and design college in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. It was founded in 1826 as the Maryland Institute for the Promotion of the Mechanic Arts, making it one of the first and oldest art colleges in the United States. In 2008, MICA was ranked #2 in the nation...
for 27 years. Cardarelli pushed generations of MICA artists to incorporate writing into their creative repertoire, and regularly collaborated with his faculty colleagues on projects and performances. He is noted for establishing poetry series such as the Black Mountain poets
Black Mountain poets
The Black Mountain poets, sometimes called projectivist poets, were a group of mid 20th century American avant-garde or postmodern poets centered on Black Mountain College.-Background:...
, St. Valentine’s Day Poetry Marathon, and the Spectrum of Poetic Fire at MICA. In its 25th year, the Spectrum of Poetic Fire reading series still brings quality poets to MICA’s campus for readings during the academic year.
In his “Black Mountain Poets” series in 1983/84 he gathered material for a documentary video, Black Mountain Revisited — a historically invaluable collage of interviews and readings given by Robert Duncan
Robert Duncan (poet)
Robert Duncan was an American poet and a student of H.D. and the Western esoteric tradition who spent most of his career in and around San Francisco. Though associated with any number of literary traditions and schools, Duncan is often identified with the poets of the New American Poetry and Black...
, Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley
Robert Creeley was an American poet and author of more than sixty books. He is usually associated with the Black Mountain poets, though his verse aesthetic diverged from that school's. He was close with Charles Olson, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, John Wieners and Ed Dorn. He served as the Samuel P...
, Edward Dorn, Joel Oppenheimer
Joel Oppenheimer
Joel Lester Oppenheimer was an American poet associated with both the Black Mountain poets and the New York School. He was the first director of the St. Marks Poetry Project...
, and Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams
Jonathan Williams or Jon Williams may refer to:*Jonathan Williams , Welsh antiquary*Jonathan Williams , American businessman, military figure, politician, writer and engineer...
— in the case of Duncan and Oppenheimer, some of their last readings on record. Over the years, Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
, Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka
Amiri Baraka , formerly known as LeRoi Jones, is an American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays, and music criticism...
, Ted Berrigan
Ted Berrigan
-Early life:Berrigan was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on November 15, 1934. After high school, he spent a year at Providence College before joining the U.S. Army in 1954 to serve in the Korean War. After three years in the Army, he finished his college studies at the University of Tulsa in...
, Alice Notley
Alice Notley
Alice Notley is an American poet. She was born in Bisbee, Arizona and grew up in Needles, California. She received a B.A. from Barnard College in 1967 and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1969. She married poet Ted Berrigan in 1972, with whom she was active in...
, Anne Waldman
Anne Waldman
Anne Waldman is an American poet.Since the 1960s, Waldman has been an active member of the “Outrider” experimental poetry community as a writer, performer, collaborator, professor, editor, scholar, and cultural/political activist....
, Maureen Owen, Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders
Ed Sanders is an American poet, singer, social activist, environmentalist, author and publisher and has been a longtime member of the band The Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and Hippie generations.-Biography:...
, and many other representative writers of The New American Poetry were frequent visitors to the Institute — thanks to Joe Cardarelli.
Known as the “Godfather of Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
Poetry,” he died at the age of 50 in 1994.
A poem that Joe contributed to Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu
Andrei Codrescu is a Romanian-born American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and commentator for National Public Radio. He was Mac Curdy Distinguished Professor of English at Louisiana State University from 1984 until his retirement in 2009....
’s and Laura Rosenthal’s anthology American Poets Say Goodbye to the Twentieth Century (New York, 4 Walls 8 Windows, 1996) ends with the following lines:
It’s too bad sometimes I think
too bad we can’t see the air
too bad the air’s invisible
too bad the air’s not clearly there
say as it is with just a little smoke
we’d find ourselves new eyes
taken up by the shapes of air tides
the multi-layered, striated, tunneled
twisted rolling wave shaped
moving patterns the air makes
no more or less substantial
than one hundred or thousand years.
Publications
- Phantom Pod, by Hollo, Joe Cardarelli, and Kirby Malone. Baltimore: Pod Books, 1977.
- The Main Book - Selected Poems by Joe Cardarelli
- Black Mountain revisited. Cardarelli, Joe; Skipper, Jim; Maryland Institute, College of Art, and Viridian Productions, producers. [Baltimore, Md.]: Viridian Productions of the Maryland Institute, College of Art; 1990. 1 videocassette (54 min.)
- KUMQUAT #3 by HEWITT, Geof, Editor, Enosburg Falls, VT: Kumquat Press, 1971. 52 pp.