Rachel Blau DuPlessis
Encyclopedia
Rachel Blau DuPlessis an American poet and essayist, is known as a feminist critic and scholar with a special interest in modernist and contemporary poetry.
and is the author of Writing Beyond the Ending: Narrative Strategies of Twentieth-Century Women Writers (1985), H.D.
: The Career of that Struggle (1986), both from Indiana University Press; The Pink Guitar: Writing as Feminist Practice (Routledge, 1990) and Genders, Races, and Religious Cultures in Modern American Poetry, 1908-1934 (ISBN 0-521-48335-2, Cambridge University Press, 2001)
DuPlessis earned her PhD
in 1970 from Columbia University
and her dissertation was titled "The Endless Poem: "Paterson" of William Carlos Williams and "The Pisan Cantos" of Ezra Pound. Among some of her honors, she has received the Roy Harvey Pearce / Archive for New Poetry Prize (2002) as a scholar poet. In 2002 she was awarded a Pew Fellowship for Artists.
(Duke University Press, 1990) and with Peter Quartermain of The Objectivist Nexus: Essays in Cultural Poetics (University of Alabama Press, 1999).
In conjunction with teaching and editing projects, DuPlessis has been writing her "poem of a life," called "Drafts." Among others, poet Ron Silliman
has referred to DuPlessis's poem Drafts as a "life poem":
, gender
, mourning
and hope
. The first two numbers of Drafts initially appeared in Leland Hickman
’s journal, Temblor, two years before being collected into a volume entitled Tabula Rosa, published by Peter Ganick’s Potes & Poets Press.
Since then, DuPlessis's "life poem" project is collected in (as of February 2010): Drafts 1-38, Toll (Wesleyan University Press, 2001) and Drafts 39-57, Pledge, with Draft, Unnumbered: Précis (Salt Publishing
, 2004), and Torques: Drafts 58-76 (2007, also Salt Publishing). Pitch: Drafts 77-95 is fothcoming. In 2006, two books of essays were published: Blue Studios: Poetry and Its Cultural Work (2006), and the ground-breaking The Pink Guitar: Writing as Feminist Practice ([1990] 2006) both from University of Alabama Press.
Uncollected Drafts
“Draft 78: Buzz Track.” Interval(le)s II.2-III.3 (Fall 2008/Winter 2009)
“Draft 81: Gap.” BlackBox Manifold (Summer 2009).¹
“Draft 84: Juncture” Salt Magazine 2 (March 2009).
“Draft 91: Proverbs.” 17 seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics (Fall 2008).
“Draft 92: Translocation.” EOAGH 5 (July 2009).
“Draft 94: Mail Art.” Jacket Magazine 37 (March 2009).
“Draft 97: Rubrics.” BlackBox Manifold (Summer 2009).
The “Line of 15” from Drafts. All poems to date (2009) from this thread, which is “the little.” Other Voices Anthology, ed. Roger Humes. (Journal sponsored by UNESCO)
Drunken Boat 10(July 2009).
Life and work
DuPlessis teaches English and Creative Writing at Temple UniversityTemple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and is the author of Writing Beyond the Ending: Narrative Strategies of Twentieth-Century Women Writers (1985), H.D.
H.D.
H.D. was an American poet, novelist and memoirist known for her association with the early 20th century avant-garde Imagist group of poets such as Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington...
: The Career of that Struggle (1986), both from Indiana University Press; The Pink Guitar: Writing as Feminist Practice (Routledge, 1990) and Genders, Races, and Religious Cultures in Modern American Poetry, 1908-1934 (ISBN 0-521-48335-2, Cambridge University Press, 2001)
DuPlessis earned her PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
in 1970 from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
and her dissertation was titled "The Endless Poem: "Paterson" of William Carlos Williams and "The Pisan Cantos" of Ezra Pound. Among some of her honors, she has received the Roy Harvey Pearce / Archive for New Poetry Prize (2002) as a scholar poet. In 2002 she was awarded a Pew Fellowship for Artists.
Drafts
DuPlessis is the editor of numerous volumes as diverse as The Selected Letters of George OppenGeorge Oppen
George Oppen was an American poet, best known as one of the members of the Objectivist group of poets. He abandoned poetry in the 1930s for political activism, and later moved to Mexico to avoid the attentions of the House Un-American Activities Committee...
(Duke University Press, 1990) and with Peter Quartermain of The Objectivist Nexus: Essays in Cultural Poetics (University of Alabama Press, 1999).
In conjunction with teaching and editing projects, DuPlessis has been writing her "poem of a life," called "Drafts." Among others, poet Ron Silliman
Ron Silliman
Ron 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...
has referred to DuPlessis's poem Drafts as a "life poem":
More than any other text, Drafts has made me understand the difference between the longpoem and the life poem, and I read Drafts, like (Zukofsky'sSince 1985, Rachel Blau DuPlessis has been composing this "endless poem" in canto-like sections, grouped in nineteen units. Their themes involve: historyLouis ZukofskyLouis Zukofsky was an American poet. He was one of the founders and the primary theorist of the Objectivist group of poets and thus an important influence on subsequent generations of poets in America and abroad.-Life:...
“A”), like The CantosThe CantosThe Cantos by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a canto. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date from 1922 onwards. It is a book-length work, widely considered...
, like Bev Dahlen’sBeverly DahlenBeverly Dahlen is an American poet who lives and works in San Francisco, CA.-Life and work:A native of Portland, Oregon where she attended public schools, Dahlen moved with her family to Eureka, California after World War II. In 1956, she resettled in San Francisco where she has lived for many years...
A Reading, like my own project, as an instance of the latter.
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
, mourning
Mourning
Mourning is, in the simplest sense, synonymous with grief over the death of someone. The word is also used to describe a cultural complex of behaviours in which the bereaved participate or are expected to participate...
and hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
. The first two numbers of Drafts initially appeared in Leland Hickman
Leland Hickman
Leland Hickman was an American poet, editor, actor, and literary magazine publisher. During his lifetime, Hickman was best known as the publisher and editor of the influential magazine Temblor which was noted for the publication of many east and west coast language-related poets...
’s journal, Temblor, two years before being collected into a volume entitled Tabula Rosa, published by Peter Ganick’s Potes & Poets Press.
Since then, DuPlessis's "life poem" project is collected in (as of February 2010): Drafts 1-38, Toll (Wesleyan University Press, 2001) and Drafts 39-57, Pledge, with Draft, Unnumbered: Précis (Salt Publishing
Salt Publishing
Salt Publishing is an independent publisher whose origins date back to 1990 when poet John Kinsella launched Salt Magazine in Western Australia. The journal rapidly developed an international reputation as a leading publisher of new poetry and poetics...
, 2004), and Torques: Drafts 58-76 (2007, also Salt Publishing). Pitch: Drafts 77-95 is fothcoming. In 2006, two books of essays were published: Blue Studios: Poetry and Its Cultural Work (2006), and the ground-breaking The Pink Guitar: Writing as Feminist Practice ([1990] 2006) both from University of Alabama Press.
Uncollected Drafts
-
- Recent Drafts
“Draft 78: Buzz Track.” Interval(le)s II.2-III.3 (Fall 2008/Winter 2009)
“Draft 81: Gap.” BlackBox Manifold (Summer 2009).¹
“Draft 84: Juncture” Salt Magazine 2 (March 2009).
“Draft 91: Proverbs.” 17 seconds: a journal of poetry and poetics (Fall 2008).
“Draft 92: Translocation.” EOAGH 5 (July 2009).
“Draft 94: Mail Art.” Jacket Magazine 37 (March 2009).
“Draft 97: Rubrics.” BlackBox Manifold (Summer 2009).
-
- A Periodicity of
The “Line of 15” from Drafts. All poems to date (2009) from this thread, which is “the little.” Other Voices Anthology, ed. Roger Humes. (Journal sponsored by UNESCO)
-
- Six Vispo Works
Drunken Boat 10(July 2009).
External links
- Author Homepage at EPC
- Author Homepage
- The Gendered Marvelous essay by DuPlessis on Barbara GuestBarbara GuestBarbara Guest née Barbara Ann Pinson was an American poet and prose stylist. Guest first gained recognition as a member of the first generation New York School of poetry....
- Standing Corporeally in One’s Time essay by DuPlessis on Anne WaldmanAnne WaldmanAnne 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....
- "Draft 42: Epistle, Studios" poem by DuPlessis at Jacket Magazine
- Statement for Pores on-line essay by DuPlessis for Pores, a journal which describes itself as AN AVANT-GARDIST JOURNAL OF POETICS RESEARCH
- Manhood and its Poetic Projects essay at Jacket Magazine, with the subtitle: "The construction of masculinity in the counter-cultural poetry of the U.S. 1950s".
- DuPlessis Feature at Poetica.net On the Homepage can be found links to biographical information, a poem Tabula Rosa (Chapter II, Drafts) and a brief piece or "aphoristic-essay" titled Working Notes