Robin Blaser
Encyclopedia
Robin Francis Blaser was an author and poet
in both the United States and Canada.
, Blaser grew up in Idaho
, and came to Berkeley, California
, in 1944. There he met Jack Spicer
and Robert Duncan
, becoming a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance
of the 1950s and early 1960s. He moved to Canada
in 1966, joining the faculty of Simon Fraser University
; after taking early retirement in the 1980s, he held the position of Professor Emeritus. He lived in the Kitsilano
neighborhood of Vancouver
, British Columbia
.
In June 1995, for Blaser's 70th birthday, a conference was held in Vancouver to pay tribute to his contribution to Canadian poetry
. The conference, known as the "Recovery of the Public World" (a phrase borrowed from Hannah Arendt
), was attended by poets from around the world, including Canadian poets Michael Ondaatje
, Steve McCaffery
, Phyllis Webb
, George Bowering
, Fred Wah
, Stan Persky
and Daphne Marlatt
; and poets who reside in the United States, including Michael Palmer
and Norma Cole
(who was born in Canada, subsequently migrating to San Francisco).
Blaser was also well known as the editor of The Collected Books of Jack Spicer
, which includes Blaser's essay, The Practice of Outside. The 1993 publication The Holy Forest represents his collected poems to that date.
In 2006, Blaser received a special Lifetime Recognition Award given by the trustees of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, which also awards the annual Griffin Poetry Prize
. Blaser won the Prize itself in 2008.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
in both the United States and Canada.
Personal background
Born in Denver, ColoradoDenver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Blaser grew up in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
, and came to Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, in 1944. There he met Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer
Jack Spicer was an American poet often identified with the San Francisco Renaissance. In 2009, My Vocabulary Did This to Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer won the American Book Award for poetry.-Life and work:...
and 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...
, becoming a key figure in the San Francisco Renaissance
San Francisco Renaissance
The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range of poetic activity centered on San Francisco and which brought it to prominence as a hub of the American poetic avant-garde. However, others The term San Francisco Renaissance is used as a global designation for a range...
of the 1950s and early 1960s. He moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1966, joining the faculty of Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
; after taking early retirement in the 1980s, he held the position of Professor Emeritus. He lived in the Kitsilano
Kitsilano
Kitsilano is an upmarket neighbourhood on the West Side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Known colloquially as "Kits", this neighborhood is home to many yuppies, young families and students as well as yoga studios, organic markets, cafes and Vancouver's Greektown. The primary...
neighborhood of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
In June 1995, for Blaser's 70th birthday, a conference was held in Vancouver to pay tribute to his contribution to Canadian poetry
Canadian poetry
- Beginnings:The earliest works of poetry, mainly written by visitors, described the new territories in optimistic terms, mainly targeted at a European audience...
. The conference, known as the "Recovery of the Public World" (a phrase borrowed from Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt
Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
), was attended by poets from around the world, including Canadian poets Michael Ondaatje
Michael Ondaatje
Philip Michael Ondaatje , OC, is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian novelist and poet of Burgher origin. He is perhaps best known for his Booker Prize-winning novel, The English Patient, which was adapted into an Academy-Award-winning film.-Life and work:...
, Steve McCaffery
Steve McCaffery
Steven McCaffery is a Canadian poet and scholar who was a professor at York University. He currently holds the Gray Chair at SUNY Buffalo . McCaffery was born in Sheffield, England and lived in the UK for most of his youth attending University of Hull. He moved to Toronto in 1968...
, Phyllis Webb
Phyllis Webb
Phyllis Webb, is a Canadian poet and radio broadcaster. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes her as "a writer of stature in Canadian letters", and calls her work "brilliantly crafted, formal in its energies and humane in its concern"....
, George Bowering
George Bowering
George Harry Bowering, OC, OBC is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He has served as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate....
, Fred Wah
Fred Wah
Frederick James Wah is a Canadian poet, novelist, and scholar.Wah was born in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, but grew up in the interior of British Columbia. His Canadian-born father was raised in China, the son of a Chinese father and a Scots-Irish mother. Fred Wah's mother was a Swedish-born...
, Stan Persky
Stan Persky
Stan Persky is a Canadian writer, media commentator and philosophy instructor.- Early life :Persky was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a teenager, he made contact with and received encouragement from Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and other writers of the Beat Generation...
and Daphne Marlatt
Daphne Marlatt
Daphne Marlatt, née Buckle, CM , is a Canadian poet who lives in Vancouver, British Columbia....
; and poets who reside in the United States, including Michael Palmer
Michael Palmer
Michael 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...
and Norma Cole
Norma Cole
Norma Cole is a contemporary American poet, visual artist, and frequent translator from the French. A member of the circle of poets around Robert Duncan in the '80s, and a fellow traveler of San Francisco's language poets, Cole is also allied with contemporary French poets.-Life and work:A...
(who was born in Canada, subsequently migrating to San Francisco).
Blaser was also well known as the editor of The Collected Books of Jack Spicer
The Collected Books of Jack Spicer
The Collected Books of Jack Spicer first appeared in 1975, ten years after the death of Jack Spicer. It was "edited & with a commentary by Robin Blaser" and published in Santa Rosa, CA by Black Sparrow Press...
, which includes Blaser's essay, The Practice of Outside. The 1993 publication The Holy Forest represents his collected poems to that date.
In 2006, Blaser received a special Lifetime Recognition Award given by the trustees of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, which also awards the annual Griffin Poetry Prize
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
. Blaser won the Prize itself in 2008.
Poetry
- The Moth Poem, 1964
- Les Chimères: Translations of Nerval for Fran Herndon, 1969
- Cups, 1968
- Image Nations 1-12 & The Stadium of the Mirror, 1974
- Image Nations 13 & 14, Luck Unluck Oneluck, Sky-stone, Suddenly, Gathering, 1975
- Harp Trees, 1977
- Image Nation 15: The Lacquerhouse, 1981
- Syntax, 1983
- The Faerie Queene and The Park, 1987
- Pell Mel, 1988
- The Holy Forest, 1993
- Nomad, 1995
- Wanders, with Meredith Quartermain, 2002
- The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser, 20072007 in literatureThe year 2007 in literature involves some significant new books.-Events:*November 19 - First Kindle e-book reader released.*December 11 - Terry Pratchett informs fans on-line that he has been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.-Literature:...
ISBN 0520245938 (winner of the 2008 Canadian Griffin Poetry PrizeGriffin Poetry PrizeThe Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
)
Essays
- The Fire, 1974
- The Metaphysics of Light, 1974
- The Practice of Outside, 1975
- The Violets: Charles Olson and Alfred North Whitehead, 1983
- My Vocabulary Did This To Me, 1987
- Poetry and Positivisms, 1989
- The Elf of It, 1992
- The Recovery of the Public World and Among Afterthoughts on This Occasion, 1993
- Here Lies the Woodpecker Who Was Zeus, 1995
- Thinking about Irreparables, a talk, 2000
- The Fire: Collected Essays of Robin Blaser, 2006
External links
- Robin Blaser Homepage at the Electronic Poetry Center
- Literary Encyclopedia entry
- Griffin Poetry Prize biography
- Griffin Poetry Prize reading, including video clip
- Griffin Poetry Prize Lifetime Recognition Award
- Capability: the Syntax of Robin Blaser, an essay by Meredith Quartermain
- "Robyn Blaser and Friendship," a review essay by Richard Cole
- MP3 files of Blaser's readings and lectures
- Interview with Robin Blaser, conducted by John Sakkis
- Small Press Traffic honor
- Blaser's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- http://www.boosey.com/pages/cr/news/further_info.asp?newsid=10682Article on the Boosey & HawkesBoosey & HawkesBoosey & Hawkes is a British music publisher purported to be the largest specialist classical music publisher in the world. Until 2003, it was also a major manufacturer of brass, string and wind musical instruments....
website about the libretto of The Last Supper] - http://epc.buffalo.edu/authors/bernstein/blog/#05-07-09Robin Blaser's obituary notice from poet Charles BernsteinCharles BernsteinCharles Bernstein is an American poet, theorist, editor, and literary scholar. Bernstein holds the Donald T. Regan Chair in the Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is one of the most prominent members of the Language poets . In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American...
, including Bernstein's "Afterword" to The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser (2006)] - http://dooneyscafe.com/archives/1593"Robin Blaser, 1925-2009: Death’s Duty" by Stan PerskyStan PerskyStan Persky is a Canadian writer, media commentator and philosophy instructor.- Early life :Persky was born in Chicago, Illinois. As a teenager, he made contact with and received encouragement from Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and other writers of the Beat Generation...
] - ‘Showing us things both marvellous and horrific' by Sandra Martin in The Globe and Mail