Ron Padgett
Encyclopedia
Ron 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
. He won a 2009 Shelley Memorial Award
.
Collaborating with fellow Central High students Dick Gallup and Joe Brainard
, along with University of Tulsa (TU) student-poet Ted Berrigan
, Padgett audaciously solicited work for the White Dove from Black Mountain
and Beat Movement writers such as Allen Ginsberg
, Jack Kerouac
, LeRoi Jones, e.e. cummings, and Malcolm Cowley
. To Padgett's surprise, most of the writers submitted work to the journal. Notably, The White Dove Review printed "The Thrashing Doves" by Jack Kerouac
, "My Sad Self (for Frank O'Hara)" by Allen Ginsberg
, "Crap and Cauliflower" by Carl Larsen
, and "Redhead" by Paul Blackburn
, among many others. After five issues, Padgett and co. retired the White Dove and fled Tulsa for New York, where they integrated into the New York School
.
Padgett received a B.A.
from Columbia University
in 1964 and studied creative writing
at Wagner College
with Kay Boyle
, Howard Nemerov
, and Kenneth Koch
. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship
and studied 20th-century French literature in Paris during 1965 and 1966. In 1996, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Grants to Artists Award.
Padgett was a poetry workshop instructor at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, New York, NY, from 1968–69 and a poet in various New York City Poets in the Schools programs from 1969-76. He was director of publications for Teachers & Writers Collaborative
from around 1982 to 1999. His works on education and writing include The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms (editor), The Teachers & Writers Guide to Walt Whitman (editor), Educating the Imagination (co-editor), and many others. He was also editor of Teachers & Writers Magazine from 1980 to 2000.
He was a cofounder/publisher of Full Court Press (publisher) and editor from 1973-88. He has lectured at educational institutions, including Atlantic Center for the Arts
and Columbia University
, He has also been the host of a radio series on poetry and the designer of computer writing games.
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...
, essayist, fiction writer, translator, and a member of the New York School
New York School
The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
. Bean Spasms, Padget's first collection of poems, was published in 1967 and written with 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...
. He won a 2009 Shelley Memorial Award
Shelley Memorial Award
The Shelley Memorial Award of more than $3,500, given out by the Poetry Society of America, was established by the will of the late Mary P. Sears, and named after the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The prize is given to a living American poet selected with reference to genius and need. The selection is...
.
Life
As a 17 year-old high school student, he co-founded the avant-garde lit journal The White Dove Review.Collaborating with fellow Central High students Dick Gallup and Joe Brainard
Joe Brainard
Joe Brainard was an American artist and writer associated with the New York School. His prodigious and innovative body of work included assemblages, collages, drawing, and painting, as well as designs for book and album covers, theatrical sets and costumes...
, along with University of Tulsa (TU) student-poet 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...
, Padgett audaciously solicited work for the White Dove from Black Mountain
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:...
and Beat Movement writers such as 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...
, 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...
, LeRoi Jones, e.e. cummings, and Malcolm Cowley
Malcolm Cowley
Malcolm Cowley was an American novelist, poet, literary critic, and journalist.-Early life:...
. To Padgett's surprise, most of the writers submitted work to the journal. Notably, The White Dove Review printed "The Thrashing Doves" by 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...
, "My Sad Self (for Frank O'Hara)" by 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...
, "Crap and Cauliflower" by Carl Larsen
Carl Larsen
Carl Otto Lauritz Larsen was a Danish gymnast who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics.He was part of the Danish team, which won the silver medal in the gymnastics men's team, Swedish system event.-External links:*...
, and "Redhead" by Paul Blackburn
Paul Blackburn (U.S. poet)
Paul Blackburn was an American poet. He influenced contemporary literature through his poetry, translations and the encouragement and support he offered to fellow poets.-Biography:...
, among many others. After five issues, Padgett and co. retired the White Dove and fled Tulsa for New York, where they integrated into the New York School
New York School
The New York School was an informal group of American poets, painters, dancers, and musicians active in the 1950s, 1960s in New York City...
.
Padgett received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
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...
in 1964 and studied creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at Wagner College
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private, co-educational, national liberal arts college with an enrollment of approximately 2,400 total students located atop Grymes Hill in New York City's borough of Staten Island...
with Kay Boyle
Kay Boyle
Kay Boyle was an American writer, educator, and political activist.- Early years :The granddaughter of a publisher, Kay Boyle was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, and grew up in several cities but principally in Cincinnati, Ohio...
, Howard Nemerov
Howard Nemerov
Howard Nemerov was an American poet. He was twice appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1963 to 1964, and again from 1988 to 1990. He received the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, and Bollingen Prize for The Collected Poems of Howard Nemerov...
, and Kenneth Koch
Kenneth Koch
Kenneth Koch was an American poet, playwright, and professor, active from the 1950s until his death at age 77...
. He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
and studied 20th-century French literature in Paris during 1965 and 1966. In 1996, he was awarded a grant from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts
Foundation for Contemporary Arts , originally known as Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, is a nonprofit based foundation in New York City founded by artists Jasper Johns , John Cage, Elaine de Kooning and others in 1963. FCA offers financial support and recognition to contemporary...
Grants to Artists Award.
Padgett was a poetry workshop instructor at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery, New York, NY, from 1968–69 and a poet in various New York City Poets in the Schools programs from 1969-76. He was director of publications for Teachers & Writers Collaborative
Teachers & Writers Collaborative
Teachers & Writers Collaborative is a New York City-based organization that sends writers and other artists into schools. It was founded in 1967 by a group of writers and educators including Herbert Kohl, June Jordan, Muriel Rukeyser, Grace Paley, and Anne Sexton, who believed that writers could...
from around 1982 to 1999. His works on education and writing include The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms (editor), The Teachers & Writers Guide to Walt Whitman (editor), Educating the Imagination (co-editor), and many others. He was also editor of Teachers & Writers Magazine from 1980 to 2000.
He was a cofounder/publisher of Full Court Press (publisher) and editor from 1973-88. He has lectured at educational institutions, including Atlantic Center for the Arts
Atlantic Center for the Arts
Atlantic Center for the Arts is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary artists’ community and arts education facility dedicated to promoting artistic excellence by providing talented artists an opportunity to work and collaborate with some of the world’s most distinguished contemporary artists in the...
and 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...
, He has also been the host of a radio series on poetry and the designer of computer writing games.
Works
- In Advance of the Broken Arm, "C" Press (New York, NY), 1964.
- Some Things, (With Ted Berrigan and Joe Brainard) (New York, NY) "C" Press , 1964.
- Two Stories for Andy Warhol, "C" Press (New York, NY), 1965.
- Sky: An Opener, Goliards Press (Bellingham, WA), 1966.
- Bean Spasms: Poems and Prose, (With Ted Berrigan) Kulcher Press (New York, NY), 1967.
- Tone Arm, Once Press, 1967.
- 100,000 Fleeing Hilda, (With Joe Brainard) Boke, 1967.
- Bun, (With Tom Clark) Angel Hair Books (New York, NY), 1968.; reprint, revised Coffee House Press, 1990, ISBN 978-0-918273-80-2
- The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Jim and Ron, (With Jim Dine) Cape Gouliard Press (London, England), 1970.
- Sweet Pea, Aloes, 1971.
- Poetry Collection, Strange Faeces Press (London, England), 1971.
- Sufferin' Succotash (With Joe Brainard) (bound with Kiss My Ass by Michael Brownstein), Adventures in Poetry, 1971.
- Back in Boston Again, (With Ted Berrigan and Tom Clark) Telegraph, 1972.
- Oo La La, (With Jim Dine) Petersburg Press (New York, NY), 1973.
- Crazy Compositions, Big Sky (Southampton, NY), 1974.
- The World of Leon, (With others) Big Sky (Southampton, NY), 1974.
- Toujours l'amour, SUN (New York, NY), 1976.
- Pullman, Arrive (With G. Schneeman) Generations (Paris, France), 1978.
- Tulsa Kid, Z Press (Calais, VT), 1979.
- Triangles in the Afternoon, SUN (New York, NY), 1980.
- How to Be a Woodpecker, (With T. Winkfield) Toothpaste Press (West Branch, IA), 1983.
- Light as Air, (With Katz) Pace Editions (New York, NY), 1988.
- New and Selected Poems, David Godine (Boston, MA), 1995.
- How Long, Coffee House Press, 2011 ISBN 978-1-566-89256-8
Sources
External links
- Ron Padgett's website
- Poetry Foundation Article
- "Do It", Jacket 37 2009
- "Padgett", Penn Sound